:: Thursday, November 24, 2005 ::

Happy Thanksgiving. Here's wishing you abundance of fortune:



I am quite thankful for the past year and the people who are close to me and those far flung people who took the time to listen to my songs - what Mighty Joe said applies here too.

:: from Bullette at 8:54 AM

My local paper hits the Delaware/Johnny Cash connection to promote "Walk the Line". The whole article is interesting but most importantly I learned that I wouldn't have minded being at this party: "John W. Rollins, Delaware’s lieutenant governor from 1953 to 1957, first met Cash at a party Rollins was throwing at his home near Monetgo Bay, Jamaica, for Steve McQueen, celebrating the release of his 1973 film "Papillon"." Who crossed the stars to get Steve and Johnny in the same room? - next they'll say they were pals with Robert Mitchum too. The 1/31/95 Cash show in Newark, DE is in my top 6. Hallelujah Johnny and June!

:: from Bullette at 6:42 AM

Full Moon Fever:
The Sky Drops have decided to play one last show before hunkering down to record in January.

Please grace us with your presence at The East End - Newark, DE on Thursday, December 15th. We will be playing with Dead Loretta and She/He. (Directions)

:: from Bullette at 6:13 AM

[You can buy band photos from this photographer whose equipment was stolen (via themodernage.org)]

But what I really want to talk about.... track suits. Look how effortlessly Ian Brown can roll the pink adidas matchers while stating the "alas poor Yorick" soliloquy. I had an illfated weekend in which I decided matchers would be my new uniform of choice. Needless to say there is no documentation. "The Greatest" and esp. "All Ablaze" have been in constant rotation from the computer speakers this month.

:: from Bullette at 6:22 AM

If you want to work on your art, work on your life. -Anton Chekhov, short-story writer and dramatist (1860-1904)

I've seen The Cherry Orchard more times than is good for me.

:: from Bullette at 3:28 PM

Monday evening I was returning a poor film choice to Vic's Video Americain and found the latest TRIC zine awaiting a read. For those of you who may not get the physical form of TRIC, I have a 2 page column that is available for your pencil and eyes in digital form. Hangnail Phillips has his latest installment of "Presents Legends of Newark Rock" featuring The Fabulous Pharaohs.

But the most fabulous surprise was reading - in a really great issue of TRIC - a review of BULLETTE by Andrew Miller that I had no idea would appear there.

"The debut album from BULLETTE is the work of Monika Bullette of Newark, DE, formerly of the late 90's alt/experimental rock group NERO. It was produced in collaboration with Hangnail Phillips. Also a Newark, DE native, Hangnail has performed in eleven area bands dating back to 1966. Immediately upon hearing the first track, "Show Me", I feel like I'm in San Francisco in 1968. The whole album to me has a 60s psychedlic folk vibe, but certainly not in a bad or outdated way. Certainly tracks like "Show Me" and "Don't Start Believin'" dominate the album on the first listen, but it's tracks like the bossa nova feeling "Little Bird", "Your Eyes Have It", and "Disappearing Act" or the overly sexual "Lemonade" that tell you more about the thoughtfulness and desires of Bullette. This touches on another point that has always been part of Monika's musical landscape: sex. Monika's guitar line alone in "Lemonade" conjures images of Nancy Sinatra's boots. But the lyrics, "I'll pay a quarter for some of your stuff", "You make me thirsty for more than your drink", and "And I want more, more, more, more" drive home a message of sexual gluttony. The funny thing is that Monika released the album for free on her website, and plenty of other alt-folk blogs around the web. So the irony is that you don't have to pay a quarter, and you can get all you need. Visit www.bullette.net for the download (AMi)

Get Casey Grabowski's brainchild in PA/DE/MD stores - see back issues here.

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"Punk star Johnny Rotten is in talks with Justin Timberlake to play him in an upcoming movie of his life." - read more of this stupidity.

:: from Bullette at 6:53 AM

My rock boyfriend Marilyn Manson's film "The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things" (well actually Asia Argento's and JT Leroy's) will finally get released next March. Manson's also been tweaking his directorial debut, "Phantasmagoria (The Vision of Lewis Carroll)" and working with Alejandro Jodorowski - among a bunch of other projects including perfume! - all the scoop here.

:: from Bullette at 6:38 AM

coverpop: every guitar on amazon in a cool graphic interface.

Sad news in Delaware: "China" the drummer for DMBQ and Shonen Knife was killed near the DE Memorial Bridge while her band traveled between two tour dates. Police Report here. Please BE CAREFUL OUT THERE! You'll save gas if you go slower.

:: from Bullette at 6:55 AM

See movies of Wire's pretty Breadwinner guitar and Clash City Rockers - These and more courtesy of Bedazzled

:: from Bullette at 1:05 PM

Philadelphia's City Paper gave me a prize!

Best Album You Can Get for Free and Without a Guilty Conscience
Monika Bullette´s The Secrets
has quickly become every music blogger's best friend. Since the album's Internet release in May, the tally of full-zip downloads is well past 2K. The Web-savvy Bullette ain't too bad behind a microphone either, sprinkling her vast influences from Nancy Sinatra to Holly GoLightly to Stereolab. One thing is clear: This isn't just another folk singer. Gank it while you can. www.bullette.net

:: from Bullette at 6:59 AM

Raw Like Sashimi has done it again - another LONG and delightful review -

"...All of Monikas’ incredible imagery are then fully realized on the title track, “The Secrets”. I think of this as the equivalent of Sinead O’Connors’ classic ballad “I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got”. Indeed, the sentiment on this track is similar, but the melody is paired with songwriting so sublime, so simple, that its almost heartbreaking. “These secrets in honeycombs / Stung me in undertow / To counterfeit seas / With buckling knees / You leave”. I must remind you that a great portion of the lyrical content of this album is devoted to unrequited love – but theres a mystical element of desire and coming-to-terms that envelops all of this. Getting past these layers takes time, and perhaps repeated listening, but when I called “The Secrets” a ‘rich’ album, I meant this, and much more...."

only room for a bit here but the full review is here:

:: from Bullette at 6:33 AM

Welcome to November. Here is Buddy Rich vs. Animal.

:: from Bullette at 6:47 AM