Neglected brain-child that it is, LARS once again will be off-duty this coming week, as New Years and birthday festivities are in order. But while I'm in Jersey, check out Flavorpill for all you need to know.

Also, besides a song and a pic, I've been devising a list that can't seem to get completed: The best French-horn solos in rock songs. So far, I've got "For No One" by The Beatles, "You Can't Always Get What You Want" by The Rolling Stones, and "After The Gold Rush" by Neil Young. Anyone? Bueller? Or is this something that signals Music-holics Anonymous?

Oh, and one more thing: The LARS mix was an absolute failure. Which is a bummer because it's a kickass mix, if I do say so myself. I've been listening to it non-stop. So I decided to throw this out there: If any of you are burning with envy and desire this mix, email me and I'll try and set up a mailing. I don't usually do this, but perhaps I should. We shall see. Until then, go out and buy all those artists.

Song: The Bronx - Bats!!

Rock Photo:

David Lee Roth rocks it in Florida.
Taken by Neal Preston in June 1983 for CORBIS.





They got a 100 lies for you/And when they pass them out/You gotta give or take a few-S.

Well I'll be fucking damned

Hold up on the links champs, barely a minute passed before my computer up and crashed. Too many music files perhaps? Jesus Christ indeed. In the meantime, click on my 'Help Sarasmile' link and sign up for an offer as my referral so that none of this crash nonsense will happen again. You so want to, I can tell...

Now watch me show your state/And let me state how I do it-S.

-Total bonus points if you know offhand where that lyrics is from-

Happy Holidays From LARS

A MIX for you all.

Because you've had it up to here with 'Best of 2004 Lists'.

Or, consequently, because Santa didn't bring you that fabulous -insert artist- box set, damnit.

Keep the rock flowing into the New Year-S.

And, of course, a preface:
I employed the famed Sarasmile mix-making abilities on this one. Ultimately, each song should flow into the next, and, as Nick Hornby so aptly put it, "The making of a great compilation tape, like breaking up, is hard to do and takes ages longer than it might seem. You gotta kick off with a killer, to grab attention. Then you got to take it up a notch, but you don't wanna blow your wad, so then you got to cool it off a notch. There are a lot of rules." So here it is. I've tried. Hopefully there's some quality in there for you. Note the Brazilian and Indian throw-ins, as well as two shameless LARS references, "Sara Smile" (the song of my infancy) and a brilliant live version of "Like A Rolling Stone" to round things out. Enjoy and be merry.



Joe Cocker-Hitchcock Railway

Bobby Darin- Beyond the Sea

Johnny Cash -Daddy Sang Bass

The O'Kaysions - I'm A Girl Watcher

Metric - Combat Baby

Morningwood - Jetsettermusicletter

Led Zeppelin - Living Loving Maid (She's Just A Woman)

The Shins - Kissing The Lipless

The Sexy Magazines - Retreat

The Strokes - Reptilia

Sluts of Trust - Piece of You

Joy Division - Love Will Tear Us Apart (BBC Sessions)

Nick Drake - Cello Song

Stereolab - Orgiastic

The Unicorns - I Was Born A Unicorn

Runner & The Thermodynamics - Damsels In Denim

Television Personalities - 14th Floor

The Rolling Stones - 2000 Man

The New York Dolls - Trash

Inouk - Victory

James Brown - Make It Good To Yourself

Jorge Ben - Umbabarauma

Flash Cadillac & The Contours

Looker - Dirty Sea (Sailor Song)

Oxford Collapse - The Money You Have Is Maybe Too Little

Van Morrison - Everyone

The Willowz - Something

The Undertones - Jimmy Jimmy

The Seconds - Say Hey

These Bones - Liquids And Solids

The Marvelettes - Beachwood 4-5789

The Isles - Fuck

Neutral Milk Hotel - Gardenhead/Leave Me Alone

The Impalas - I Ran All The Way Home

Tommy Steele - Singing' The Blues

The Rulers - Stagger Lee/Wrong 'Em Boyo

John Vanderslice - They Won't Let Me Run

Modest Mouse - The World At Large

Arcade Fire - Crown of Love

Blind Willie McTell - Love Changing Blues

The Concretes - Chico

Devendra Banhart - Owl Eyes

Hall & Oates - Sara Smile

The Spencer Davis Group - Every Little Bit Hurts (Live)

TV On The Radio - Ambulance

The Velvet Underground - Jesus

The Walkmen - Hang On Siobhan

Weezer - El Scorcho

The Beatles - I've Got A Feeling

The Band - Jawbone

Elvis Presley - Never Been To Spain (Live)

? And The Mysterians - 96 Tears

The Aquatones - My One Desire

The Breeders - Cannonball

Mohammed Rafi, Lata Mangeshkar, Mukesh - Ramia Vatavia

Stephen Stills - Love The One You're With

The Who - A Quick One While He's Away (Live)

Bob Dylan W/ The Band - Like A Rolling Stone (Live)

Rock Photo:

Bob Dylan. Taken on August 18th, 1965 by Jerry Schatzberg in NYC for CORBIS.




Don't you know it is wrong?/ To cheat a trying man?-S.

You may have missed her when she performed at Joe's Pub earlier in Decemeber. And no, I'm not talking about Nancy Sinatra. KEREN ANN is this amazing chanteuse from Paris whose ancestry spans Israeli and Dutch borders. An avid Joni Mitchell fan, her spacey and gentle vocals are sweet and poignant, while her arrangements are classy in a 1950's jazzy musical sort of way.

Want more? Well, she was just reviewed by The New Yorker's Sasha Frere-Jones (my third-favorite music critic behind Fricke and Pareles), so I've listed that article below, as well as some multimedia tidbits.

More importantly, she'll be playing Southpaw on the 7th of January, and The Knitting Factory on the 9th. So bring your baguettes and unfiltered cigarettes, and prepare to be charmed by Keren Ann.

Ailleurs ("Elsewhere") Video

A clip of Keren Ann's perfect cover of Nick Drake's "I Was Made To Love Magic"

Sasha Frere-Jones' New Yorker review





Que tu m'aimais encore/C'est quelqu'un qui m'a dit que tu m'aimais encore/Serais ce possible alors? -S.

Just so you know, LARS Links has been drastically updated. That's right, now instead of clumsily browsing from two links pages, we have a one concise, stream-lined Links Page. And, as usual, if you find a link that isn't available, or if you pissed because your band isn't up, let me know and we'll pursue change.

A song and a pic for your patience in reading the nuts and bolts post:

!!! -Pardon My Freedom

Original Caption:
"Sid Vicious, bassist, and Johnny Rotten, singer, for the punk band the Sex Pistols, performing a concert. Rotten crouches on the right, underneath Vicious's bass. Rotten wears a pink, obscene T-shirt. Vicious is shirtless. His chest is bleeding because he has recently carved the words, "Gimme a Fix" into it with a razor."

Taken by Lynn Goldsmith for CORBIS.





Julien Temple's 'The Filth & The Fury' Trailer

I don't believe illusions/Cause too much is real-S.