come hang out

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Wednesday, March 9th
Clubhouse w/ Hoodie Allen
1320 East Broadway Rd, Tempe, AZ
Doors 7PM, Show 7:30PM, $20, All Ages
GET TICKETS HERE

Thursday, March 10th
The Key Club w/ Hoodie Allen
9039 Sunset Blvd, West Hollywood, CA
Doors 8PM, Show 8:30PM, $12/$15, 16+
GET TICKETS HERE

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check above for a lil zombies mashup i did for the fine folks at billboard.com. jammed out (you can catch a live vid of ‘2 weak’ on their site) and then discussed existential crises and dried fruit.

a link to the article + MORE VIDZZ = HERE!

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Sometimes I look around and see a little kid in a stroller and feel pretty good about the world. Other times I read a book about the slow and largely invisible demise of society and feel consumed by despondency and the impossible urge to be a character in a heartwarming ensemble romantic comedy similar to Love, Actually but even better and more heartwarming.

For this week’s book report, I mashed up my brain with Empire of Illusion: The End of Literacy and the Triumph of Spectacle by Chris Hedges. Gnarly title for a gnarly book.

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Hedges’ argument can be boiled down into a delicious balsamic reduction:

(1) Americans live in a corporate state, one that promulgates illusions and an all-consuming culture of selfhood in order to maintain its hegemony while keeping us worker bees blissfully unaware

(2) We are complicit in the rise of this corporate state because it is emotionally and intellectually easier to worry about Kim Kardashian than the current financial crisis or how we are killing people in other countries

(3) A society full of illiterate, self-involved citizens who willingly – albeit somewhat unknowingly – support an oppressive and destructive ruling class is one on the verge of what Hedges calls “inverted totalitarianism”

(4) “Inverted totalitarianism” is a very bad thing

To prove his point, Hedges delves into the sordid worlds of celebrity, pornography, higher education, and “positive psychology” in his pretty freaking scathing analysis of contemporary America. Attention US Weekly, gonzo films, admissions policies at Harvard, and self-help gurus: YOU ARE MAKING EVERYTHING WORSE.

According to Hedges, those who populate the upper echelons of American business and government – people C. Wright Mills dubbed the “power elite” – are becoming increasingly distanced from the rest of us. And instead of questioning corporate greed, institutionalized cruelty, and nepotistic educational systems, we are happily enticed to follow the ups and downs of pseudo-celebrities as they cheat on their girlfriends, escape from rehab, and get fat. Although Hedges teeters on the edge of bombast – and at times relies too heavily on the expertise of a limited set of pundits – he makes a compelling case for why we ought to shut off WWE and think for a moment about why the CEO of Goldman Sachs continues to ball out of control in Connecticut while the rest of us default on the subprime mortgages his company sold us last year.

Every great empire, before it crumbled, “descended into orgies of self-indulgence, surrendered their civic and emotional lives to the glitter, excitement, and spectacle of the arena, became politically apathetic, and collapsed” (p. 189). Hedges regards celebrity culture as a kind of religion, one that allows people to escape their depressing realities (ones filled with debt, inequity, humiliation) and immerse themselves worlds of outrageous spectacle. It reminded me of Marx’s view on religion, that its primary purpose is to distract the proletariat from the fundamental class conflict of a capitalist society.

If you are even remotely concerned with where we’re headed as a culture and a nation, you should read this book. It’s a good jam.

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this is a note to say the following:

(1) the past two nights in SF were so so so fun and reminded me once again of all the reasons i love being in the bay area, thinking it’s cold when it’s 55 degrees out, and eating quesadillas made from corner store supplies. tremendous thank yous to noise pop, the independent, and milk bar for giving me the opportunity to play some shows AAAAAND to all of you sexy people who came out on wed and thurs. you are seriously the best.

(2) i am honored and excited to announce that i’ll be playing POPSCENE w/ the sounds, DJ aaron axelsen, and miles the dj on THURSDAY, APRIL 7TH @ Rickshaw Stop!!! festivities kick off at 9pm. 18+, $14.

GET YOUR TICKETS HERE AND NOW.

oh and some big announcements coming in like a week…

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if you don’t have tickets to the independent tonight:

DO NOT FRET, FOXHOUNDS

i’m playing a FREE show TOMORROW, THURZ 24th @ Milk Bar!!!!
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sister crayon (aka super dope electro/indie stylings) will be playing
as will dj white menace

if you live in the bay, i freaking better see you in the next two days
SEEEEEERIOUSLY
xoxo
gossip girl

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on WEDNESDAY, FEB 23rd you can find me (1) rolling a suitcase down divisadero (2) smiling because i love san francisco and (3) rocking out at the independent for NOISE POP!! i’ll be sharing the stage with geographer, butterfly bones, and funeral party, so there’s pretty much no reason at all not to come and shake your shit.

—-> GET YOUR TICKETS HERE

ps for all my sacramento homies, i’m playing with sister crayon (who happen to be extremely rad) @ luigi’s fungarden on saturday, february 19th. yezzir.

pps photo comes courtesy of josh blank!

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do you live in london?
do you advocate knuckle mashing?

if sooooo, come hang out on THURSDAY, FEB 10th!.
i’ll be playing YoYo at Notting Hill Arts Club.

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to get into the show, you have to be on the guestlist. to get on the list, email your first and last name to seth@kflay.com before midnight on wednesday, february 9th. once you get to the venue on thursday, tell them you’re on k.flay’s list, give em 3 pounds, and readjust your elbows.
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fired up, engine style

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