For example…
Yesterday, I got to go pick up some goods at Paul Smith.
I don’t know if you’ve ever been to the Paul Smith store,
but HOLY MOTHER OF ALL THINGS WOOD
& WHITE & AESTHETICALLY PLEASING!
That place is just like, heaven.

It’s just magic in there. I want to live there.

Now see those book shelves in that second photo?
Alright, so I was checking out these pajamas
when I spot a book I’ve been dying to have:

THIS IS LIKE A PHOTOGRAPHER’S PREMONITION OF MY LIFE.
THIS WAS MY BIOGRAPHY BEFORE I WAS EVEN BORN TO HAVE ONE.
THIS IS EVERYTHING I STAND FOR IN A FUCKING BOOK DUDE!

Anyway, so I pick it up & look for a price, expecting a zillion dollars.
I couldn’t find a price tag though, only a small $35.00 on the inside sleeve.

I ran my little hands across the cover, gently grazing the plastic sheath like a lover’s cheek. I flipped through the pages, using all my strength not to just fingerblast the hell out of those nineteen-seventies pool scenes. I wanted to just kiss it, all over. I wanted to make love to that book right there. I wanted to worship it, and whisper sweet nothings in its ears. “You are the tightest pussy of a book,” I’d tell it. “I want to live in you. I’ll never be able to live without you. You’re so beautiful.” But I decided, for thirty-five dollars, I should just buy it & go be creepy in the privacy of my own home.

Being as this store is in the trajectory of 2014 in terms of shit I can afford, I don’t know what in hell possessed me to trick myself into thinking it was actually thirty-five dollars. I guess it was wishful thinking & also the fact that I didn’t think people would maliciously hide the price tags in the spine of page fifteen.

But that’s exactly where the real price tag was.

Please take a moment of silence
to picture & bless the look on my face
when it rang up as NINE HUNDRED & FIFTY FUCKING DOLLARS.

My mouth dropped open & I let out a silly, “Aheh…”
followed by a giggle that would have been cute on me five years ago.
And the too-fashionable-not-to-be-gay salesman says,
“Well, it is vintage & first edition!”
Apparently, vintage + first edition = more than my rent.

I held A Wonderful Time in my hot little hands for a moment longer, thinking of the ecstasy I had felt just mere minutes earlier in that back corner of the store. That hot minute I spent alone thinking about how I was going to fuck the shit out of this book with my eyes for all of eternity, how it would always be there on my coffee table just waiting to be molested with my mind, every day. For a moment, I really wondered if I could get away with it. Like if maybe I ran my debit like a credit card & then ran home & told my dad my cat was dying or something.

But then I realized that that was really stupid.
There may come a day when I actually need to lie about my cat dying
so I can get nine hundred & fifty dollars to fucking live or eat or not be arrested.

Also, I shouldn’t even be thinking about lying about my cat dying! I love my cat! What is wrong with me?! What has happened to me?!
This pool porn was turning me into a monster!

I sheepishly let out another, “Aheh…”
with an awkward smile & put the book back,
feeling totally defeated & deflated.

I gingerly stroked its cover one last time,
promising I would see it in two years
& to please, PLEASE JUST WAIT FOR ME!
I WILL COME BACK I FUCKING PROMISE!
I LOVE YOU! I FUCKING LOVE YOU!

I turned my back on it at 2:30pm
on January Twenty-Third Two Thousand & Twelve,
knowing I may never see it again
but certain the love in my heart would go on forever,
much like Celine Dion or a good designer bag.

The rest of my day felt pretty miserable,
a feeling that is still sort of lingering today,
which is kind of fucking weird since it’s A FUCKING BOOK.

I feel like a man who fell in love with an escort he couldn’t afford. He had caressed her perfect tit & was then turned away, only to dream of that single tit for the rest of his life. He would aimlessly wander Tumblr evermore & pray that perhaps one day he’d get really fucking lucky with a high-res find on a Large sized Google Image Search.

That book is my 70′s Harrison Ford in a speedo & the Parker Hotel rolled into one. It is my muse. I will have it. Mark my words, I will have that fucking book.

That $950 one too,
considering I just found out
that to buy that book new,
oh it’s just about a cool four grand.

[Currently Listening 2 "Wait" by the Beatles]

IT WAS SO AWESOME!!!

I’m not even a fan of 3D movies because they usually give me a headache & I can’t get drunk beforehand but Beauty & The Beast 3D was not like that because since it was made back in the day, its 3Dness is just like a really nice depth of field with the foreground & middleground & animated background actors. I was AGASP when they open up on the beautiful rolling hills of Belle’s poor provincial town & surrounding wind-swept meadows with tiny little pink flowers & shit. I was seriously five all over again. I smiled the whole time, except for the parts where obviously you shouldn’t smile– like when she cries about never seeing her father again or any time Gaston is on screen cause I really don’t like his attitude.

I probably hadn’t watched Beauty & The Beast
in like, a good ten or so years.
FAR TOO LONG.

But kind of awesome because I realized
something about Beauty & The Beast
THAT I NEVER REALIZED BEFORE:

THAT IT IS FUCKED UP THAT THE BEAST GOT BEASTED!!!

Look, I get it. He was an asshole to everyone & then one stormy night he was an asshole to the wrong haggard hobo that came to the door & she spelled him. But guess what? The math is pretty fucked up on this story because in the movie, first it explains via stained glass that the prince was a dick his whole life & then was beasted. Then it explains that the spell must be broken via the wilting rose by his twenty-first birthday. Then Mrs. Potts or someone says that they have been objectified (bahdumchhhh) for the past ten years.

So, basically,
via math
via my brain
via the supplied information
via the script,
THE BEAST WAS BEASTED AT LIKE, TEN YEARS OLD.

I think that the haggard hobo/beautiful enchantress should have given him a break. All ten year olds are dicks anyway and secondly, he was just following one of the top three most important rules of childhood: never let strangers in!
I can’t believe he even answered the door at night to be honest!

And I think that is the REAL moral of the story here.
DON’T ANSWER THE DOOR AT NIGHT! ESPECIALLY IF IT’S A STRANGER!
It’s still the number one way to not get beasted &/or SVU’d.

1. My Raen Alex Knost sunglasses. THE BEST.
2. Vintage Italian wallet/coin purse my sister gave me last year for Christmas that I get more compliments on than everything I’ve ever gotten complimented on ever combined.
3. Smith’s Minted Rose Lip Balm because the Olsens endorsed it once in 2006.
4. My gondola ticket from Sterling Vineyards last spring. It’s like the Disneyland of vineyards if Disneyland just had one arial tram, one guided tour & six weakly poured wine tastings.
5. A hair tie, for emergencies. I say for emergencies because those thin hair ties do nearly nothing for me, but in a tight situation it’d still work.
6. Two stray Midols. Also for emergencies. Or hangovers.
7. A Corona bottle cap that was probably from an emergency.
8. A roll of Kodak film.
9. L’Oreal’s Walk On The Beach nail polish. I just got this because I just got paid.
10. My favorite pen I stole from Dudefriend that he got at a conference. He will never see it again.
11. An open packet of Sugar In The Raw because I always feel bad opening a packet of it & only using a couple granules & then throwing it out. Just seems so wasteful, so instead I fold the packet, put it in my purse, forget about it & the sugar spills everywhere & gets stuck in my electric key & now I can’t use it, so obviously my sugar saving idea was one of my better ones.

[Currently Listening 2 Grimes {this song 4ever}]

Except for everything that comes with me being on a stage
when I’m not actually on the stage.

I’ve been getting up in front of people & making an ass out of myself since I was a wee single digit and I’ve always been a total basket case about it. For most of my life, I would go through a single process: casually rehearse, procrastinate, freak the fuck out, rehearse like crazy, hate myself, trip out about having shit memorized, memorize everything, feel like Kanye, realize I’m not Kanye, freak out, pick out a great outfit, find a middle ground because at least now if I fuck up I look good, get on stage & have an awesome time and exit stage right
& vomit in the trash cans in the wings.

After nearly twenty years of this,
I am comfortable enough to not vomit
but now I just make up insane stuff to worry about,
like obsessing over what underwear I’m going to wear.

This seems deranged. And it is. I won’t dispute that. But I genuinely spend a lot of time worrying about what underwear I’ll wear because for about ten years,
I was always cast as a manish character.

I KNOW, RIGHT?! HOW IS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE WITH MY TINY FIVE INCH FACE & BARELY-THERE JAW LINE?! Fucking beats me. All I know is that on three separate occasions I have been cast as Viola in Twelfth Night. For those of you who are not familiar with Shakespeare, just know that Viola is a bitch who gets shipwrecked & upon washing ashore, dresses up like a man to get a job & this woman falls in love with her & she’s in love with the bro that’s in love with the woman who’s in love with her… anyway, yeah the point is that Viola dresses like a dude for 90% of the show.

I have like ten other examples from while I was in acting school but I don’t remember the names of the plays but just please know I cried to my teacher once about how I was never cast as anyone except a tomboy or a curmudgeon.

He replied, emotionless & hard from years of bit parts on CBS crime shows, “Master your niche, then branch out.”

Fuck that. My niche is not “bad attitude in wide legged pants”.

In some weird not-so-subconscious effort to combat my insecurities about always being cast as a lesbian, I make an effort to wear dresses while performing.

WHICH GETS US TO THIS WHOLE BUSINESS WITH THE UNDERWEAR!!!

Because my biggest fear is eating shit on stage & my theory is that yes, I could eat shit, face plant & have my dress come up around my waist, showing off my half-in-shape ass & my underwear. That’s so possible! BUT! I know in my performer’s heart of hearts, I would get up & laugh it off & all would be okay but I want to make sure that if that ever happened, at least someone would be like, “Wow, I can’t believe Marissa Ross ate shit like that but did you see her underwear? They were so cute & totally matched her dress! For being a clutz, she is soooooo put together!”

So, I spend like a week figuring this shit out.
Three days to find the actual outfit,
four days figuring out what underwear is the best.

Cause I mean, you could go like super-matchy OR you could go quirky OR you could just go neon! And do you do thong or boy short? What about the ones with the arbitrary bows your boyfriend makes fun of but you swear someone out there must think are sexy? Does your dress show lines? Is your ass tan? Is that one dimple you’ve been trying to get rid of for eight months still there? Could your creepy ex-boyfriend possibly be in the audience? Could a future creepy stalker be in the audience? What about a creepy television executive!?!
THERE ARE JUST SO MANY VARIABLES!!!

And this is how I think.
Like a completely psychotic person.
Why are you even reading this?!

Anyway, my underwear was exactly the color of my dress on Saturday.
With some black lace trims/accents & some super cute bows
that my boyfriend thinks are fucking stupid I’m sure.
But I think, they’re maybe in my top three cutest underwear.
I recently got them at Victoria’s Secret, so you know I’m not playin’.

I put them on & was like,
“DAMN! IF I FALL TONIGHT EVERYONE’S GOING TO KNOW HOW FLY I AM!”

Here is me backstage, to give you a visual on my color scheme.

But here’s the thing!
I didn’t fall on my face!

So now I almost feel like I wasted my outfit/underwear combo but you can just go ahead & ignore how sorta unstable & relatively masochistic I am.

[Currently Listening 2 Dunes' "Handle"]

All this time I’m like,
I just want Mischa to be happy!
Where is Mischa’s happy place?
You know, where she looks like
a healthy person who doesn’t hate herself?

Well, you guys, I have great news!
Today, Mischa looked so good!
And she was like, just in yoga pants with her dog!
She wasn’t like done up or anything!
And she looked the best ever.

I’m very happy for her. I never watched the OC because I was far too emo & “cool” for that, but I always thought she was super pretty & always just wanted the best for her. All these years I’ve watched her at the grocery store check-out lines & really was just like, “C’mon. You’re so pretty. You can do this!”
And now she is. It’s really inspiring when you think about it.

It’s not like, Kristen Wiig inspiring or anything.
Don’t get me wrong, she’s still just Mischa Barton.
But then again, [whispers] she’s Mischa Barton.

[Currently Listening 2 Catwalk]

Of course Dudefriend was like,
“Are you kidding me?
WE’LL TAKE THE BED.”

Not to say I don’t want a new bed,
but I’m having a hard time
giving up my bed.

I love my bed.
I’ve had it since I was 18.
This is apparently the grossest thing ever to everyone besides me but I’m sorry, it’s a perfectly fucking awesome bed that is really fucking comfortable! It’s beyond comfortable! Everyone who has ever slept in it had commented on how comfortable it is & how they wish they’d never have to leave it! That is a fucking fact! A fact I have woken up every morning for seven years to confirm!

The only reason everyone is freaking out is because they’ve all slept in it
& probably didn’t realize I’d had it since I was 18
& now they’re like, “EWWW! DEAD SKIN CELLS & SEX JUICES!”
like I’m a whore that doesn’t use fucking sheets.
Like that I’ve been servicing men on a plain old mattress
with only a fleece Christmas-patterned blanket
from the 99 Cent store
to shelter me from the
harsh Southern California winters.

I LIVE FOR SHEETS.
ORGANIC ONES.

PLUS!
I’M A CLEAN,
NON-WHORISH PERSON.

MY MATTRESS IS FINE!

IT’S MORE THAN FINE!
IT’S MY FRIEND!

That bed has been with me through the best & worst times & thinking of it just hanging out on the sidewalk waiting to be trashed along with the ACTUAL disgusting mattresses of Los Angeles county is such a bummer.

But then again, it is 2012–
the year my whole life gets upgraded.
So, I must accept that this is the circle of life.
One comfy-ass queen must be let go
in order to get a bangin’ pillow-topped king.

My bed has served me well.
I just wish we didn’t have to say goodbye.

• Work out at least three times a week, because I am a woman & obviously I can’t start a new year– ha, let alone a day!– without being unsatisfied with my body.

• Drink more water. Duh.

• Write at least one page on my typewriter a day, whether it be a journal entry or a contribution to my fictional novella no one will actually believe is purely fiction as it will no doubt be about Los Angeles, lust, and a bunch of lazy, licentious losers who want to be writers or pursue some career that is equally creative & contrived, just like me! I mean, but it’s fiction.

• Stop using my phone while driving, even if I’m drinking iced coffee & being super brilliant & can’t wait to Tweet.

• Listen to more music. I’ve really fallen off.

• Hope that everyone stops shortening “gorgeous” to “gorg”. It takes a word that means “beautiful” & abbreviates it into this ugly, stupid sounding thing, thus defeating all the sentiments you’re trying to express on my Instagram photos.

• Stop talking shit on people who’ve wronged me, even though I fucking hate them with relatively good reason & wish my friends would too.

• Forgive people who’ve wronged me & not just be like, “I’m over it, it’s fine… I mean, I think they’re really rude but it’s cool… I just feel like she’s kind of a stupid fucking c-word, but whatever… No, really, it’s cool…”

• Not to take it personally when people meet me a bunch of times & we’re always really friendly & they refuse to follow me back on Twitter. I do that all the time! I shouldn’t care! I mean, not everyone is going to think I’m a really pretty genius. And some people are going to hate me for being a really pretty genius. Both totally okay things! Besides, lest us not forget Kelly Slater follows me, so whatever… it’s cool… no, really.

• Hope that spec script I spent two months writing does something besides collect dust. If anyone who can help me get somewhere in the world wants to read it, let me know! I’m open for jobs or just social climbing!

• Transform from “Manic Pixie Dream Girl” into “Hooker With A Heart Of Gold”, cause I feel like the quirky brunette market is kinda tapped right now and IDK, I like the alliteration of “Hooker With A Heart Of Gold”. I feel like I could pull that off without actually being a hooker, just like I’ve pulled off this MPDG without being a fucking idiot.

• Hope to find Beetlejuice on DVD while wandering around Target one day.

BOOM! 2012 IS MINE!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Currently Listening 2 Harry Belafonte]

I am very proud to say that in 2011, I was able to write for one of the internet’s most popular websites, I wrote/starred/basically produced my own web show, got a great job working for one of my heroes, met so many incredible people that I have admired, even met someone who wants to put me on television as the millennial poster girl for wine (cross those fucking fingers, bitches), finished my first pilot script that features characters that are not “Marissa A. Ross” AND Kelly Slater followed me on Twitter.

If it sounds like I’m showboating, I’m not meaning to but also, I really don’t give a shit if it comes off that way. I am just genuinely grateful and excited to be where I am right now and to be starting 2012 in the place I am. If the world ends next year, I’m going to be able to say I went after my dreams and I even got damn close to achieving them.

And this is where I have to thank anyone who’s ever read this blog or any of my articles, ever followed me on Twitter, ever subscribed to my Tumblr and especially, everyone who watched my web series and Wine Time. Because honestly, none of what’s happening would be possible. All my opportunities have stemmed from working on this ridiculous piece of internet real estate and I can’t thank you enough for supporting it and me, some random-ass brunette with a penchant for bitching and wining [bah-dum-chhhhhh].

So, thank you– yes, you, right now you– so, so very much.

Special thank you’s to Bennett Smith, Molly McAleer, Sophia Rossi, Zooey Deschanel, Mindy Kaling, Kashy Khaledi, Jennifer Still, Kimberly Gordon, my close friends who should know who they are and most of all’s: my best friend Meredith Leyerzaph, my sister Valerie, my Grandma and Papa (RIP) and my insanely, incredible boyfriend Benjamin Blascoe. Each of them have been beyond good to me and every day I am reminded to be appreciative for what they have brought into my life this year.

My only real regret this year was not writing here more.
And I really hope to get back to that in the new year.
The truth is, blogging is hard when you’re busy & happy.
So thanks for sticking with me.

My best wishes to you & yours.
I hope each of you work hard,
do shit for free & never give up.

2012 is going to be fantastic.
Can’t wait to kill it with you.

And remember,
summer only ends if you let it.
xoxoxo

Thank you for being patient. It’s taken me a whole week to do this because of all the other shit I have to do that is moderately more important than making lists like five people give one fourth of a fuck about, but that’s okay. I really appreciate you giving one fourth of a fuck to be here.

There may be some of you who are late to the game & don’t realize that the only reason my blog started to matter is because of a particular group of music bloggers that became my friends & pushed me into stardom & then I started writing features for Pitchfork’s now defunct Altered Zones and my boy Ian’s blog, Friendship Bracelet. I seriously don’t know how any of that really happened since I mostly relate music to my feelings & moods instead of objective opinion. I’m not an authority by any means but I do think I’m somewhat of a tastemaker in terms of leading a leisurely Southern California lifestyle. And these albums are the watermelon mojitos of my iTunes.

That’s what this list brings you.
These are my favorite albums,
not necessarily the best albums.
These are albums for sunny days,
for day drinking & hard lounging.
Albums for long drives down the coast
& weekends spent camping with friends.
This is a list that sums up my 2011,
so drink up.

- – -

10. Summer Camp, Welcome To Condale

I’m not a huge fan of synthesizers, but Summer Camp does it right. Instead of using them as a means-to-an-end in terms of music making, Summer Camp uses them like they would have been a Billboard Top Ten band in ’86. Honestly, if you didn’t know better, you’d probably be asking yourself what Molly Ringwald film these songs were written for. Young love & the suburbs? I’m in! And the supreme use of a Weird Science quote? BITCH PLEASEEEE. Too good. I nearly broke my ankles dancing in new platform shoes in my underwear to this the first day I got it, sooo if that doesn’t say anything, I don’t know what will.

Favorite Track: “Brian Krakow” & “Welcome To Condale”

9. Tennis, Cape Dory

Despite how much I hate being so damn predictable, Tennis’ Cape Dory has me written all over it. Beachy pop about relationships on the high sea? I’m not going to sit here & act like just this past week I saw them at Spaceland (fuck you, it’s still Spaceland) & wasn’t singing along with every single song. Because I was! Eagerly! Just like I did in my car for six weeks straight after this came out. I don’t disagree with the argument that this is “girl music”. It’s catchy, it’s cute and it’s preppy pop, rendering it completely irresistable to me. Luckily, I am a girl so I can listen to it all I want without emasculating myself. If you have/had a vagina, you probably have sung at least a couple songs in the mirror too.

Favorite Tracks: “Baltimore” & “Bimini Bay”

8. Fleet Foxes, Helplessness Blues

EVERYONE. SHUT UP. JUST SHUT UP. I REALLY LIKE THIS ALBUM. I don’t care how much pretentious-ass guff I get for this pick. Look, I’m a sucker for masterful instrumentation & heavenly harmonizing. Throw in some universal themes and call me cooked. I can’t help that these fools are supremely talented. Much like The Beatles, yeah, you don’t have to like them but if you can’t respect their game, I’m genuinely worried about your moral character.

Favorite Tracks: “Montezuma” & “Blue Spotted Tail”

7. Shannon & The, Clams, Sleep Talk

Such a great album, one of those you can listen to all the way through without skipping a song. I love that. It’s a real throw-back to the surf days of yore, but with a couple of twists including elements of soul, punk and tinges of classic R&B. It’s very entertaining to listen to, and I also enjoy that Shannon & The Clams seem to have a bit of a sense of humor about themselves (See the tiki-hooting of “The Cult Song” & you’ll get what I mean, I swear that song should be in some 60′s Gidget rip-off flick right before some cheap Elvis looking fool gets sucked into a cave or something). It’s lo-fi, it’s fun, it’s a rolicking roll at the beach, immediately prompting fantasies of tandem long-boarding with your number one babe. This should have been the soundtrack to your summer. Luckily for all of you who slept on this, we have another summer in like five months, so hold tight!

Favorite Tracks: “Sleep Talk” & “You Will Always Bring Me Flowers”

5. Woods, Sun & Shade

The quintessential folk album of 2011. Done & done. Woods has been around for a minute, but much like early Devendra Banhart, their initial releases were just a little too weird for me. They were enjoyable and skillful, but lacked the melodic patterns I personally need in order to listen to an album on the reg’. Sun & Shade takes the experimental flare that drew me to Woods in the first place and exemplifies the structure I desperately craved. The album itself is a faultless mingling of psych-rock with pop sensibility, and folk with innovation. Sun & Shade is thoughtful yet still rousing, and the ideal place to lose yourself on a sunny afternoon.

Favorite Tracks: “Be All Be Easy” & “Out Of The Eye”

5. Dirty Beaches, BadLands

This album is exceptionally sexy. Just, so so sexy. On a dark, blown-out beach of beats and crashing waves of reverb, there is Alex Zhang Hungtai on the shore, slicking back his hair with a comb under a blanket of stars. Dirty Beaches is the beddable bad boy who makes you weak in the knees. Even though you’re so fucking afraid of motorcycles, but you get on his motorcycle anyway because he holds your hand and you melt. His Adonis-greaser vibe and nearly sinister crooning is masturbation inducing. It’s swooning. It’s eerie. It’s a tantalizing trip to Twin Peaks, if Twin Peaks had a couple of dark lifeguard towers to lose your virginity in.

Favorite Tracks: “A Hundred Highways” & “Lord Knows Best”

4. Monster Rally, Coral

Oh, Monster Rally, how I adore thee. Definitely the most talked about project on my blog for more than a year and a half, the Cleveland bedroom-musician-cum-DJ-or-something-or-other incredibly mixes romantic romps through the tropics. It’s this jungle-dream-jazz-world vibe that is simply unparalleled, in both sound and mixing expertise. While looking for a way to explain Coral, all I can say is it sort of makes me feel like a less drug addicted version of Elvira Hancock. Like, that I’m probably living lavishly in 1970′s Hawaii, lounging by immaculate beaches all day & wearing long, too-low cut dresses all night. I serve perfect cocktails from my wet bar & sashay across shag carpet. I’m the classiest adult with a wild side while listening to this album. Like, oh, she’s so domestic! Look at the way she shakes that martini! BUT WAIT! NOW SHE’S SKINNY DIPPING!

I lead a very, very rich fantasy life. And Monster Rally is the soundtrack.

Favorite Tracks: “Color Sky” & “The Birds (Pt. 1 & 2)”

3. Real Estate, Days

I feel like Real Estate and I have a lot in common. Lush lawns, chlorine pools, taking it easy. At first, Real Estate seems almost minimalistic, but a good listen reveals layers of skillful sequences and nearly elegiac lyrical conclusions. It’s not sad, but it’s definitely reflective. Maybe it’s that I spend a lot of time mulling over the circular driveways and tree lined Main streets that harbored my own youth, but I can’t help but get lost in this album. I’m really glad it didn’t suck, TBH. Their first album has been my absolute go-to since its release and I was nervous for my suburban soul mates, but they came through, just like I knew they would. Also, so so so glad Alex got to sing on this album! That song, “Wonder Years” has some seriously mental guitar shit going on.

Favorite Tracks: “Green Aisles” & “Wonder Years” & “It’s Real”

2. White Fence, Is Growing Faith

Good fucking god, I love White Fence. So many bands have tried to capture a true yet organic take on the sounds of the 60′s & 70′s, but most fail. Not White Fence. White Fence sounds like some gem you’d accidently stumble upon in the dollar bin of your favorite record store, but is still fresh as fuck. Tim Presley is the best musician in Los Angeles, and arguably one of the best in the world, in my sort of professional opinion. You just do not get the craftsmanship, vision and innovation that White Fence encompasses in just any band. It has a nearly Beatles feel to it, with its steady beats and I love Presley’s punch-drunk vocal delivery. It’s catchy and quixotic, so basically, fanfuckingtastic.

Favorite Tracks: “And By Always” & “Sticky Fruitman Has Faith” & “Lillian (Won’t You Play Drums?)”

1. Connan Mockasin, Forever Dolphin Love

I discovered Connan Mockasin when Dudefriend got this insane surf video I’m obsessed with, Lost Atlas. This album completely changed the game. Reminiscent to what could be cheaply described as a more accessible Ariel Pink, this album is an acid-dipped storybook dreamscape, residing somewhere between sunglass-shaded & stoned drives down PCH and the moss covered caves that foster my prettiest fantasies. It is clean psychedelia, something with imagination and precision. Ethereally sharp, Forever Dolphin Love simultaneously leads the journey while holding your hand down the path, narrating your current life– a soundtrack that not only reflects the present, but somehow manages to influence the future. I swear I’ve only had one bong rip guys, but really, this album is really a magical & adventurous beast. Anytime I am listening to it, I feel like I am in the most beautiful place in the world & feel as though at any moment, anything could happen; my life could begin.
Yes, this album makes me feel like I could be born again, right now.

Favorite Tracks: “It’s Choade My Dear” & “Faking Jazz Together” & “Forever Dolphin Love”

- – -

So, that is that. Thank you for joining me on this exploration of my year in music. I sincerely hope you check out anything you didn’t already know about & support these awesome artists. I absolutely love talking about myself & my incredible taste so I hope you had as much fun as I did. xo

Previously:
• Monster Rally’s Permanent Vacation (for IMPOSE Magazine)
• A Tangent Exemplifying How Shamefully Crazy I Am (About Tennis)
• I Have A Confession (About Fleet Foxes)
• A Tangent About SXSW
• Shit I’d Marry: Lost Atlas

I don’t love or hate Lana Del Rey. I feel about Lana Del Rey how I feel about most things: it’s fine. She’s fine to exist & I’m fine with her existing. She has two songs I enjoy & she has a bunch of songs I don’t care for, so I don’t listen to those songs. Am I going to hate her because she got her lips done? No. Does it bother me that she presented herself in a rather deceitful manner (re: that first P4k interview)? Of course. Am I going to waste my time acting like this shit doesn’t happen everyday? No fucking way. Entertainers— both mainstream, independent, hell myself even— even in the slightest manner, have images & acts. Some of those images & acts involve fake names, plastic surgery & feigned dialects. The only reason this conversation is happening about Lana is because a bunch of pretentious tastemaking assholes feel like they were fooled. Who fucking cares? We’re fooled every fucking day and you’re an idiot if you think otherwise.

The bottom line about Lana Del Rey is, despite the hype & all the shit & all the shallow, petty nonsense of it all, she can sing. At the end of the day, isn’t that what really matters?