Tuesday, December 23, 2008

12/23/08

Nothing like early Guster.

12/23/08

Another Mix Find. Beautiful little song.

I'm in love with the world through the eyes of a girl
Who's still around the morning after
We broke up a month ago and I grew up, I didn't know
I'd be around the morning after
It's always been wait and see
A happy day and then you pay
And feel like shit the morning after
But now I feel changed around and instead falling down
I'm standing up the morning after
Situations get fucked up and turned around sooner or later
And I could be another fool or an exception to the rule
You tell me the morning after
Crooked spin can't come to rest
I'm damaged bad at best
She'll decide what she wants
I'll probably be the last to know
No one says until it shows
See how it is
They want you or they don't
Say yes

I'm in love with the world through the eyes of a girl
Who's still around the morning after

--Elliott Smith, Say Yes
Either/Or

12/23/08

Sidenote: I'm a sucker for songs with sleigh bells (that aren't Christmas tunes).

12/23/08

I've been importing mix cds lately. Back before the iPod, I was big into the mix CD. Slowly but surely I want to import the spoils of my collection onto my computer, under "The Mix Sessions." It's good to recycle music every now and then, see how things change meaning over the years.

My ear is more developed now than it was when I was 14, so some of this stuff sounds terrible and some sounds brand new. And some is still just okay. Lots of the lyrics still ring with me though. I forgot how much I liked early Death Cab, like Coney Island and Little Furry Bugs, and some tracks off of Elliott Smith's "Either/Or" that I forgot about.

But there are some good finds in there! They're all decorated with Sharpies and doodles and stuff. Unfortunately, the CD quality is a bit destroyed in some cases. Damn my adolescent carelessness!

Always liked this song, though.

I can be anything
That you want me to be
A punching bag
A piece of string
That reminds you not to think
They found the note
down in your car
It’s not your fault it gets this hard
Hold your head high
Don’t look down
I’m by your side
I won't back down
You wanted a hero tonight
Well I’m not made of steel
But your secret’s safe with me
I can be anything
That you want me to be
A holy cross
Some sympathy
That reminds you how to bleed
They found the note down
in your car
You climbed up here to fall apart
They knock you down
I’ll pick you up
They laugh at you
I’ll shut them up

-Our Lady Peace, Made of Steel
Gravity

Monday, December 15, 2008

12/14/08

Does anyone else know what I mean when I say "momentry?"

Monmentry (adj. I think [correct me if I'm wrong]).
1. Causing a certain feeling of happiness and nostalgia
2. Making you warm and fuzzy
3. Fix everything, or somehow have everything come to a higher level


Ex.: I love songs that create "momentry."

Sunday, December 14, 2008

12/14/08

This song is a hidden gem on Viva La Vida, I think. Sounds more like the Coldplay I got to know on X & Y.

12/14/08

Fleetwood Mac's going on tour and re-releasing Rumours. Rejoice.

Thursday, December 11, 2008

12/11/08

i did not hear about this when it was relevant.




Right or wrong, scandal or no scandal, why do we care? What is it about singing a national anthem that should be so pure? Something about loyalty, and respect. Don't care about your image so much that you replace a plain looking child with a prettier one. Maybe it's a semester's worth of music and politics talking, but I think it was a sleazy move.

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

12/9/08

and i've got
no illusions about you
and guess what?
i never did
and when i said
when i said i'll take it
i meant,
i meant as is

--Ani DiFranco, As Is
Little Plastic Castle

Saturday, December 6, 2008

12/6/08




Great movie, the songs are hilarious, and the dialogue is spectacular. And it's about lying to journalists!!! Hah-hah. I don't know if it would be that easy...they tend to go onto location asap these days, don't they?

Monday, December 1, 2008

12/1/08

This song is my happy place, and I just saw it on a Ghiraldehli commercial (yum, reminds me of freshman year!) although I am having trouble figuring out what portion of the song they used. Might've been a vocal less recording that was equally beautiful, though not as necessarily chilling.



It was used on a great Nip/Tuck episode--one of my favorites as well. The one after Sean finds out Christian is Matt's father, and they go to do one last reconstructive surgery together--separating conjoined twins--and then realize they have to work together. Aww, cheesy. I love Nip/Tuck--can't wait for January season TV shows.

Friday, November 28, 2008

11/27/08



"The Dustland Fairytale begins

With just another white trash county kiss in '61.
Long brown hair, and foolish eyes.
He'd look just like you'd want him to
Some kind of slick chrome American prince.

Blue Jean serenade
Moon river what you do to me?
I don't believe you.

Saw Cinderella in a party dress, she was looking for a nightgown.
I saw the devil wrapping up his hands, he's getting ready for the showdown.
I saw the minute that I turned away, I got my money on a pawn tonight.

Change came in disguise of revelation, set his soul on fire.
She said she always knew he'd come around.
And the decades disappear
Like sinking ships but we persevere.
God gives us hope but we still fear, we don't know.

Your mind is poisoned.
Castles in the sky, sit stranded, vandalized.
The drawbridge is closing.

Saw Cinderella in a party dress, she was looking for a nightgown.
I saw the devil wrapping up his hands, he's getting ready for the showdown.
I saw the ending where they turned the page, I threw my money and I ran away.
Sent to the valley of the great divide
Out where the dreams all hide.
Out where the wind don't blow,
Out here the good girls die.
And the sky won't know
Out here the bird don't sing
Out here the field don't blow
Out here the bell don't ring
Out here the bell don't ring


Out here the good girls die
Now Cinderella don't you go to sleep, it's such a bitter form of refuge.
Why don't you know the kingdoms under siege and everyone needs you?
Is there still magic in the midnight sun, or did you leave it back in '61?
In the cadence of a young man's eyes?
Out where the dreams all hide..."
~The Dustland Fairytale
The Killers, Day &Age

Not a horrible CD, but not mind-blowing either. The songs are theatrical and dramatic, lots of do or die attitude and really powerful parts and choices. But that kind of sound doesn't always do it for me, so it's not an album that's going to get much repeat listen once i'm over it (which'll be about 2 more minutes). This song was cool, really like the chorus. "I saw the devil wrapping up his hands/he's getting ready for the showdown"--such a good line! Couple other cool spots like that on the album,one verse in the single that's got some good lines, and Neon Tiger is catchy as hell. But I still like Hot Fuss better.

What it comes down to? The Killers think they're a more important band than they really are in the scheme of things.

But I think that's kind of their charm--what's wrong with dreaming big?

Thursday, November 20, 2008

11/20/08

Really wish i could find a good live clip of this song.


Listened to their live CD, "Guster on Ice" today when it came up on my shuffle. That's why I love shuffle sometimes--i'll come across an album I haven't played in awhile. I love re-experiencing an album--remembering what i liked about, seeing if any of my tastes have changed. You notice different elements. But live Guster sounds damn good to me.


I love how uplifting/moving this song sounds, even though the lyrics can be read as pessimistic and rather victimized. The whole album is a bit like that--I have a huge attachment to "Lost and Gone Forever." I think it's a really really cohesive album, all the songs have a similar message and theme and it's just so consistent.

If that's all you will be
You'll be a waste of time
You've dreamed a thousand dreams
None seem to stick in your mind

Two points for honesty
It must make you sad to know that
Nobody cares at all

I want to be where I've never been before
I want to be there and then I'd understand
Know I'm right and do it right
Could I get to be like that
How to know what I don't know
Nothing more to gain

Will I get better or stay the same?
I find I always move too slowly
Can't lift a finger
Can't change my mind
I never knew till someone told me that

If that's all you will be
You'll be a waste of time
You've dreamed a thousand dreams
None seem to stick in your mind

Two points for honesty
It must make you sad to know that
Nobody cares at all

--Guster, Two Points for Honesty
Lost and Gone Forever

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

11/19/08

So, Brandon Flowers displayed his sexiness for GQ (gah) right before The Killers album drops (Nov. 22).

Sexy? sexy.

Promote much? There's validation in endorsements--especially when it's modeling for GQ (and looking that good doing it). I've always liked them/him, though. I thought Sam's Town was a great record, and the Sawdust b-sides are tons of fun.

Listened to this song a few times lately:


You sit there in your heartache
Waiting on some beautiful boy to
To save you from your old ways
You play forgiveness
Watch it now
Here he comes

He doesn't look a thing like Jesus
But he talks like a gentleman
Like you imagined
When you were young

Can we climb this mountain
I don't know
Higher now than ever before
I know we can make it if we take it slow
Let's take it easy
Easy now, watch it go

We're burning down the highway skyline
On the back of a hurricane
That started turning
When you were young
When you were young

And sometimes you close your eyes
And see the place where you used to live
When you were young

They say the devil's water
It ain't so sweet
You don't have to drink right now
But you can dip your feet
Every once in a little while

--The Killers, When You Were Young
Sam's Town

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

11/18/08

One of my favorite Smashing Pumpkins songs...the other is "Disarm."





Sleep will not come to this tired body now
Peace will not come to this lonely heart
There are some things I'll live without
But I want you to know, that I need you right now
I need you tonight


I steal a kiss from her sleeping shadow moves
'Cause I'll always miss her wherever she goes
I'll always need her more than she could ever need me
I need someone to ease my mind
But sometimes a someone is so hard to find
And I'll do anything, to keep her here tonight
And I'll say anything, to make her feel alright
And I'll be anything, to keep her here tonight
'Cause I want you to stay, please
I need you tonight

She comes to me, like an angel out of time
As I play the part of a saint on my knees
There are some things I'll live without
But I want you to know, that I need you right now
Suffer my desire
Suffer my desire
Suffer my desire, for you

--Smashing Pumpkins, In the Arms of Sleep
Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness

11/18/08

Hey, you beauty supreme.
Yeah, you were right about me.
But can I get myself out from underneath
This guilt that will crush me
In the choir, I saw our sad Messiah.
He was bored and tired of my laments.
He said, "I died for you one time, but never again"

Well I love you so much, but do me a favor baby and don’t reply.
Cause I can dish it out, but I can't take it.
--Brand New, Limousine
The Devil And God Are Raging Inside Me


love this song. Was disturbed when I realized what it was actually about--a seven year old girl who was decapitated in a limousine on the way to a wedding because the limo collided with a drunk driver (or maybe it was the limo driver who was drunk).

For some reasons, iTunes reverses the tracklisting of this CD, so i have to listen to it backwards, or click track by track. It sounds okay backwards.

11/17/08



Sheer loveliness in her performance, I love the movement of this song as well. It's got a beautiful structure, because it just builds and soars so well. Chilling song structure #3!

11/17/08

Excellent example of how good a lack of a structured chorus can be.



I'm standing on this corner.
Can't get their attention.
Facing rush hour faces turned around.
I clutch my stack of paper, press one to a chest,
then watch it swoop and stutter to the ground.
I'm weary with right-angles, abbreviated daylight,
and waiting for a winter to be done.
Why do I still see you in every mirrored window,
in all that I could never overcome?
How I don't know what I should do with my hands when I talk to you.
How you don't know where you should look, so you look at my hands.
How movements rise and then dissolve, melted by our shallow breath.
How causes dance away from me.
I am your pamphleteer.

I walk this room in time to the beat of the Gestetner,
contemplate my next communique.
The rhetoric and treason of saying that I'll miss you.
Of saying "Hey, well maybe you should stay."
Sing "Oh what force on earth could be weaker than the feeble strength of one"
like me remembering the way it could have been.
Help me with this barricade.
No surrender. No defeat.
A spectre's haunting Albert Street.
I am your pamphleteer.


--The Weakerthans, Pamphleteer
Left & Leaving

I used this song in a paper to talk about different kinds of song structure--ie, chorus-less ones. Here, the bolded part, has a such a great vocal build and then instrumental break that gives me the same kind of chills every time. And it doesn't need a repeated chorus or something, just the one line and sad descending chords. Simplicity, simplicity, simplicity...it's also about socially fucking up, which is always a good song topic.

Monday, November 17, 2008

11/17/08

Fave placebo song, I think...really beautiful.



(That photograph isn't doing it for me, though.)

Time to pass you to the test.
Hanging on my lover's breath,
Always coming second best,
Pictures of my lover's chest.

Get through this night, there are no second chances.
This time I might
To ask the sea for answers.

Always falling to the floor,
Softer than it was before.
Dog boy - media whore,
It's who the hell you take me for.

Give up this fight, there are no second chances.
This time I might
To ask the sea for answers.

These bonds are shackle free,
Wrapped in lust and lunacy.
Tiny touch of jealousy,
These bonds are shackle free.


Get through this night, there are no second chances.
This time I might.
To ask the sea for answers.
These bonds are shackle free
These bonds are shackle free
These bonds are shackle free
These bonds are shackle free

Get through this, there are no second chances.
This time. To ask the sea for answers.



--Placebo, Ask for Answers
Without You I'm Nothing

11/17/08

You know what i hate?

Lyrics Web sites.
Fuck them.

They all fucking suck.

SongMeanings is the only one that doesn't make me feel like I'm being screamed at by ADS!!! BOOBS OF CELEBRITIES!!!! FLASHING COLORS!!!!!! and it takes me forever to find the damn things. Then when you get to the text it's like tiny white-on-black Verdana.

But the reason SongMeanings sucks is because i always end up wasting a shitton of time reading through the emo blog posts, and then I feel like a voyeur of 16 year old kids who all seem to want to slit their wrists (or fuck the girl from math class who just did the same), but not before imparting their wisdoms onto the anonymity-granting comment forums literally littering the Internet. Fuck comment forums.

AZLyrics is the best site I can find otherwise (at least, it's the one i've been using the longest) and their selection often bites, or takes you elsewhere on the Internet.

It is so addicting though, the SongMeanings post things. Everyone's name is a song or something, "poisonhearts," "thequietthings666," "or whatever. Gaggaggag, laughlaughlaugh, readreadread.

So finding song lyrics is a horrible process. That's all. Please....someone out there MUST sympathize with this. How come we've never talked about this?! It's been pissing me off for years! Feels so good to say something.

Also, watch this, because SpeakEasy/Makeshift kicks ass and because Eddie Munster is an asshole:
Music Fan Fest 2008

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

11/12/08

You want to talk tugging at my heart strings?

Jimmy Eat World is doing a ten-city tour for Clarity's tenth anniversary, playing the album in full.


....



....

!!!!!!!! ohmigod. I would love to hear that album live, I would sit in reverence and soak every second of it in. Such a beautiful, perfectly executed album--so, let's hear it live. gah.


And of course this happens when I have NO money and NO available credit. Fuck. Finances. Here's hoping tickets hold out.

Don't bother going through your motions.
Nothing that makes sense ever works out.
Don't kid yourself, you know they want money.
Nothing can be good on its own merit.
Put your trust in simple acts.
Make the flyers get them up all over town.
Don't kid yourself, you know they want money.
Please keep in sight what makes you care.
You have it always.
Spinning and spinning.
Dancing in plastic, shake-up snow.
Do you believe in what you want?
Your camera flash.
On us, meaningless.
You cannot waste a single night.
What you ignore is priceless to me.

-Jimmy Eat World, Believe in What You Want
Clarity

Faintest snow keep falling.
Hands around your waist.
Nameless, standing cold.
Take in restraint like a breath.
My lungs are so numb from holding back.
Walk close to the fence.
Feel it hit your clothes.
Turn and smile nice.
Smile say goodnight.
Say goodnight in a breath.
Simple discourse breaks you clean in half.
Regret.
Do try it once and then you know.
Your move.
Settle for nothing less again.

-Jimmy Eat World, Crush
Clarity

The first star I see may not be a star.
We can't do a thing but wait.
So let's wait for one more.
The time such clumsy time in deciding if it's time.
I'm careful but not sure how it goes.
You can loose yourself in your courage.
When the time we have now ends.
When the big hand goes round again.
Can you still feel the butterflies?
Can you still hear the last goodnight?

The mindless comfort grows when I'm alone with my 'great' plans.
This is what she says gets her through it:
"If I don't let myself by happy now then when?"
If not now when?
When the time we have now ends.
When the big hand goes round again.
Can you still feel the butterflies?
Can you still hear the last goodnight?
Close my eyes and believe wherever you are, an angel for me.

-Jimmy Eat World, For Me This Is Heaven
Clarity

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

11/11/08

Maybe it's the piano lessons, but I've been throwing some Tori Amos on during the afternoon/evening while I'm in my apartment. And that's been good--something I listened to when I was 12, and sounds totally different now that I'm "all grown'd....ish up?"



On an unrelated not:
Look up Treeman: Search for the Cure (a documentary) and you will flip the fuck out.


Friday, November 7, 2008

11/7/08

iPods on shuffle...I can't give it up.

1) Say Anything-Spores, In Defense of the Genre
2)Ani DiFranco-Shameless [Re-Recorded Version}, Canon (Disc 1)
3)The Beatles-Hey, You've Got to Hide Your Love Away, Help
4)Radiohead-I Might Be Wrong, Amnesiac

I don't know why but it totally worked. And I love Spores. More on that later.

Thursday, November 6, 2008

11/6/08

If I ever get into a bar fight...
...I may be listening to the end of Say Anything's "Belt" in my head.

What say you (what say you)
And all your friends (and all your friends)
Meet all of my friends (my friends)
In the alley tonight, yeah

--Say Anything, Belt
...Is A Real Boy

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

11/5/08

Muse live......gahhhhhhhhhh! I swear, listening to "Absolution" pumps me up more than a Nike commercial. "The Small Print" is such a fierce, "come here so i can kick your ass" kind of song. Awesome.

11/5/08

This song feels like crawling into bed.

Sunday, November 2, 2008

11/2/08

Growing obsession with Vendetta Red's "Sisters of the Red Death." Listen to it if you want violence, gore and nightmare intertwined with pop chords. Really powerful album, really intense storyline and sounds soooo good loud. It's an "annihilate-my-inner-thoughts" kind of good. Wish I could've seen them play.


I love that they're only disturbing if you listen closely. On the surface they sound like pop punk emo indie alternative blahblahblahgenregenregenre. You know. They sound like a band. But the lyrics and the story are nothing less than brutal. The difference just slaps me upside the head, I love hearing it.

Sister insomnia
my eyes weep worms for you.
Angel anathema,
I'll drink your blood.

The blood you shed for me
was all you gave to me.
My bold bulimic belly dancer,
narcissistic necromancer.
Run, just run from me.

As day consumes the night
the earth shall cover me.
Medussa Madonna,
murder me, marry me.

Under your vapid vulture wings,
I'll suckle your black milk
and let it trickle down my tongue.
Your womb mouth kiss could kill.

The blood you shed for me
was all you gave to me.
My cold canary causing cancer,
narcissistic necromancer.
Run, just run from me.

This time all riots, I'm ready.
This time all riots, I'm ready to go.

--Vendetta Red, The Body and The Blood
Sisters of the Red Death

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

10/22/08

So I've had a Sigur Ros obsession the past 24 hours or so. It's been working out really well. I stumbled across the album "Takk..." iniTunes and boy am i glad i did. Their music can be absolutely stunning and epic, just shimmering and alive. What more could you ask for? Well, maybe lyrics in English, if that's your thing. But honestly, I enjoy not understanding the words and just absorbing the parts and sounds. I like making it about what I want it to be about.

Anyway, I really got attached to the album in no time, and then did some snooping around. I came across this video for one of my favorite tracks off of "Takk..." called "Hoppipolla" (Icelandic for "jumping into puddles). The song was also used for a lot of movie trailers and such.

Even if you don't like Sigur Ros, watch it!


I think the reason this struck me so much is how simplistic it makes loving your life seem. It's easy to get wrapped up in school, work, relationships, whatever, to the point of no return....I love how this is about playtime. It's so important to remember to laugh and play and breathe and just be for awhile....



Sigur Ros clearly owns.

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

10/15/08

I heart afternoon-driving-in-the-fall music, like this song, for example.

Not my favorite of theirs, but their YouTube selection was limited. They've got some really pretty songs. Their album, "Moo You Bloody Choir" has become a favorite of mine for "making breakfast" music.

10/14/08

Hmm.


Minnesota Public Radio playlists have got me thinkn....

You can find the perfect song in the oddest places if you just google correctly, take a few chances and make a few wrong clicks. i'll probably never listen to these songs again, but that's okay. Jenny Dalton's "Married to the Sea" is working for now, and of course the damn song isn't on her MySpace.


She's okay, i guess. That other song was kind of haunting, these are kind of poppy.

But hey! Minnesota Public Radio!! Now i know where to go for entertainment.

Sunday, October 12, 2008

10/12/08

The Internet is a funny thing....Never did I think approx. eight years of dialoguing and communicating and advertising myself through online means would become so vital to the way I live now.

So many embarrassments over the years--Myspaces, facebook posts, journals, profiles, whatever.

Damn you, archive.org!! You're a chronology of our adolescent/high school years, and lots of old photos.







Whatever. This:

DJ Shadow-What Does Your Soul Look Like
Preemptive Strike
I can't find a file anywhere, but it is on iMeem if you're a member. Album only purchases on last.fm and iTunes if you are members of either listening service (worthitworthitworthit).


shut the lights off close your eyes and breathe and listen.

walk around when it's raining, drive when it's raining night.


....aaaaand I'm out.

Wednesday, October 8, 2008

10/8/08

Never noticed Interpol much until now, but "Our Love to Admire" is a great CD.

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

10/7/08

Radiohead Song of the Week??
The Gloaming (Softly Open Our Mouths in the Cold) off of Hail to the Thief.

Such an awesome song. Such an awesome word--gloaming. I don't know what it means, but I know exactly how it sounds and how it feels--shadowy, dark, foreboding and lurking from point a to point b. The song warrants a listen for even non-Radiohead fans (which really, pretty much everyone should be by now in one way or another). Even if it's just because it's a great example of how much energy a song can capture with relatively simple choices.

Whatever. Just listen to the damn song, especially if you can find a decent live clip. Now I'm listening to "Silver Spring" anyway, because it's been at least two weeks.

Thursday, October 2, 2008

10/1/08

I'm working playlists tonight!
These are just songs.

Just take them as music. Not songs that are the best anything, they're not this, they're not that. They're just...21st century popular music songs. How they sound under the context of that..it's so hard to define, isn't it?

Just read an essay about that--about the finesse of popular music that musicologists cannot make the right term for. It's not complicated or complex the way "classical"era music was. A new term will hopefully be made someday, probably in terms of times and eras. The Pre-Rock era/Post-Rock era? The switch is mid 20th century, 20s-60s? It's so bizarre, and hard to pin down, so I don't know why I'm taking classes in it.


Love is Real, Ode to Darryl, Newerwaves-Jimmy Chamberlin Complex
..other stuff unconsciously on shuffle
2)tonight, tonight--smashingpupmkins 40 sec.
which led to for me this is heaven-jimmy eat world (first 30 seconds), started over, finsihed, which led to Sympathy of the devil for a nice rolling stones marathon followed by feist, followed by sarah mclachlan for like 6 songs within 50 seconds, until the thing went on shuffle and picked Ckaustrophobic Sting by The Prodigy which actually fit the mood REALLY well. Fun, crazy shit is great to listen to sometimes. Followed by this song We Both Go Down Together by Colin Meloy that i found on a sampler from a Paste album, I think...which sounds eeriely like 'choosing my religion.'

I might do my pop music term paper on how music magazines pick the samplers.


Also, iTunes interface is killing me lately. It's not set up as well as the iPod touch. With that, you can do so much more--for example, when you're on shuffle and hear an artist you want the full album of you can get it pretty easily by clicking the list button on the upper right hand corner. If you click the arrow by the album title in iTunes, it brings You to the store. Goddamn it. That's cause it's free. i'd love to see a music playing program Apple put money into...

(If anyone knows a feature that would fix that--a button or a good program!-- let me know, and then if that's the case, istillloveyouApple! Steve Jobs, Keep it Up Buddy!!!!1)

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

9/23/08

...this is a great song.


I roll the window down
And then begin to breathe in
The darkest country road
And the strong scent of evergreen
From the passenger seat as you are driving me home

Then looking upwards
I strain my eyes
And try to tell the difference
Between shooting stars and satellites
From the passenger seat as you are driving me home

"Do they collide?"
I ask and you smile
With my feet on the dash
The world doesn't matter

When you feel embarrassed then I'll be your pride
When you need directions then I'll be the guide
For all time
For all time
-Death Cab For Cutie, Passenger Seat
Transatlanticism


Ben Gibbard--maybe one of the 21st century's best pop music lyricists? Death Cab reaches the ears of enough of the majority. What I love about this song is how well it captures a moment. There's a pleasant ambiance, and it sounds like it could be sad song, but it's not. It can describe so much--those simple moments with friends, or the careful moments with a more-than-a-friend. The times when you're really seeping in the atmosphere around you.

I'm pretty sure you never can get enough of those.

9/23/08

Wtf mate?
Apparently this was for a week in August, and then went away...but now, again, you can purchase your own Say Anything song.

Max Bemis Song Shop....what a concept. THAT is something new. How interactive is music going to get? I wonder how it would feel to hear a song written JUST about you. And not by a musician you know, who is involved in your personal life, but a total stranger or one of your favorite musicians.

Let's see how far this goes. Not gonna lie, if I had $150 to throw around right now I'd so do it just to hear what it sounds like.

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

9/17/08

If you like folk singer/songwriters....
Buy this.

Then listen to it on a pensive drive when it's sort of gray and rainy, and it sounds really fucking good. "Thin Blue Flame" kind of blew my mind at first, it was like a cross between Death Cab and, i don't know, a smarter Ryan Adams. And upon second listen, it was still pretty resonant. Good sign. Third, too.

But you have to be into this kind of sound to appreciate it, i think. His lyrics are powerful in their own right, and he does have some equally powerful moments. Beautiful songs, but simple. A song like "Idaho," well, you just have to like folk music. I needed something new to dig my ear into in that genre, so I'm glad this full length came my way.

Also, Ritter majored in the self-created study of "American History Through Narrative Folk Music," according to Wikipedia and thus he is my academic hero.

9/17/08

Exclusive Lovedrug songs:
available here.


I do like them! They're so subtle sometimes, always little ringings or whatever in the background. Less than a month!

9/17/08

Now we take our time

so nonchalant

And spend our nights so bon vivant

We dress our days in silken robes

The money comes

The money goes

We know it's all a passing phase

We light our lamps for atmosphere

And hang out hopes on chandeliers

We're going wrong

we're gaining weight

We're sleeping long and far too late

And so it's time to change our ways

But I've loved these days

Now as we indulge in things refined

We hide our hearts from harder times

A string of pearls

a foreign car

Oh we can only go so far

On caviar and cabernet

We drown our doubts in dry champagne

And soothe our souls with fine cocaine

I don't know why I even care

We get so high and get nowhere

We'll have to change our jaded ways

But I've loved these days

So before we end and then begin

We'll drink a toast to how it's been

A few more hours to be complete

A few more nights on satin sheets

A few more times that I can say

I've loved these days
--Billy Joel, "I've Loved These Days"
Turnstiles


Turnstiles was one of the first CDs I owned. I like it a lot better now than I did when I was nine.  And this song is so soothing, so accepting, so satisfied with the good and bad in life. So reminiscent.

Thursday, September 11, 2008

9/11/08

New obsessively re-watched video:


I like the sound, I like how authentic it feels. I like how simple it is, just really good elements of music blended together.

Little opened for Robert Plant & Allison Krauss I believe, and I fell in love with that record when I first listened to it. Pretty great stuff--works as background music for doing work, pensive reflection, content cruising or low lit, nighttime conversations.

9/11/08

Kanye can't lose his temper like this or he'll ruin

I really like Kanye. I don't care if he's not a good rapper, I don't care if he's kind of a douchebag. Dude gets what he wants, raps about what he wants and acts how he wants. He's kind of a hero of mine *sniffles* though the random acts of violence thing definitely makes him lose a few points.

I feel like I was just told the tooth fairy isn't real. Kanye IS just like every other celebrity.

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

9/10/08

This deserves to be shared.
I like it when they're funny

9/10/08

What career will they NOT do a reality TV show about?



The search for the subway superstar?

Kind of fascinating, kind of weird. I really don't know who is going to watch this show other than me. It's appeal to musicians seems redundant--why would they want to watch a competition of people just like them? Some might even say it's hypocrisy since the winner gets a chance to perform at an MSG event, a far cry from an underground subway.

One performed said he loved the opportunity because it was like a "Woodstock of subway musicians" while they were all auditioning for the competition.

There is a lot of cool music on it--just everything, every style, all kinds of people who look all different ways. Some of the musicians who performed at the open call seemed like normal, crazy musicians, others are fantastically unrealistic. Take, for example, the folk duo Dagmar--the woman performed with dragon wings and a pilot helmet a la Amelia Earhart. Sweet.

Then there was the ukulele player who called a stuffed leopard his production manager, and said he loves it when women smile at him. "I like smiles more than money, they last longer." Right on, dude.

Lots of old blues guys too(my personal fave). I especially enjoyed the metal-looking dude who played an electric violin, he was jumpin around all crazy-like.

Lots of cross-eyed lookin' folks as well.

It's interesting, though, to hear the perspective of New York from the eyes of the subway musician. They just love performing, so they perform. An honest lifestyle. Many of them noted the difference between performing in the subways or on a stage--and how the underground setting can make for a better performance.

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

9/8/08

It's nice to know even Chris Martin has bad days.

Just because I'm losing
Doesn't mean I'm lost
Doesn't mean I'll stop
Doesn't mean I'm in a cross

Just because I'm hurting
Doesn't mean I'm hurt
Doesn't mean I didn't get what I deserve
No better and no worse

I just got lost
Every river that I've tried to cross
And every door I ever tried was locked
And I'm just waiting till the shine wears off...

You might be a big fish
In a little pond
Doesn't mean you've won
'Cause along may come
A bigger one

And you'll be lost
Every river that you try to cross
Every gun you ever held went off
And I'm just waiting till the firing stops
And I'm just waiting till the shine wears off

-Coldplay, Lost
Viva La Vida

Yes, "Viva La Vida" wasn't anything too spectacular, but I like this tune. In both it's arranged and acoustic forms. It's uplifting, in a spiritual-but-not-about-Jesus kind of way.

I get what he says with this song.

There's always gonna be people to keep you down, people who judge you and people who can make you feel like you're nothing--intentionally, or without even noticing. A simple message, a simple lesson, but it's one that hurts a little bit to learn.

I trust that as the years go on, you feel less and less lost. At least, that's what I'm holding out for.

Sunday, September 7, 2008

9/7/08

Roger on 'American Dad' is a pretty swell character--so many quirks, so many good lines. On this one episode he has an obsession with Dolly Parton, and they way he sang to her in his car reminded me of me far too much--simply because the look on Steve's face was so confused and that's how most people look when they see me getting into really weird music in my car.

Friday, September 5, 2008

9/5/08

New Lovedrug has more Cursive-like tendencies than anything else. The songs are really meticulously composed and arranged, not scared of weird and ugly chords but fully embracing them. I love themm.

-and they're touring with Copeland!

That'd be a show to catch. Copeland played great live, but I'd LOVE to hear Lovedrug.

I really might just have to figure out a way to go that show in New York with both Lovedrug and Copeland and Lydia, who I've heard of and been told I would like but haven't heard yet. I really want to hear Copeland play off of "Eat, Sleep, Repeat," though, and hear Lovedrug do its new thing with "Sucker-Punch Show." They kind of fascinate me with that record and how sort of off-the-wall it is, how intentionally sounding disturbed. I just want to see how it would sound and if they could play it with as much charm as the records have in their arranged appeal, as with "Eat, Sleep, Repeat."

I've always really liked the song, "The Last Time He Saw Dorie," and I was kind of weirded out when I found this:



though I fiercely wonder if that's how they meant it. If so, Finding Nemo is way weirder that I thought.


Definitely my favorite type of popular music--the really well composed indie or emo or just straight up rock. Sufjan Stevens holds the crown there for me though. He just thinks so huge, but isn't scared to have quiet moments, and just soooo many layers.

Thursday, September 4, 2008

9/4/08

Between intense discussion in class and coming across this, i find myself wondering what's happening American perception of rock music. Fall Out Boy is probably one of the most popular rock bands that's around today--certainly they're one of the richest and get a ton of airplay. But their next record's concept is about Pete Wentz dealing with becoming a celebrity?

Come on. Who cares about that? If I'm not becoming a celebrity, how can I listen to his songs and relate to them, or feel connected to them? I guess I'm disappointed to see guys who made their first record crying about girls in their garages keep trying to make statements and be all epic. Stop. Trying. When Pete Townsend played and looked all fucking crazy jumping around a stage, you think he was thinking about how sad he was he couldn't keep up with his fans? Doubtfully. He just looked bad ass. Wentz's pyschological trauma/lyrics like "“I don’t care what you think, as long as it’s about me" just don't say rock and roll to me. Terrible song.

There's these growing divides, these boxes of rock and pop rock that both fall under the huge blanket of popular music. It saddens me when I see artists who belonged in the first catagory transgress to the second. It's not because they're "selling out" or whatever, and I don't care how many fans bands have whether its one or one million. It's just, if you're going to label yourself a rock and roll musician, you need to be that--not some glitzy, Hollywood-ified brat.

I want my rock stars to be just that--on lot of drugs, acting insane on stage, criminal record a plus. That's the way it's supposed to be.

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

8/27/08

There's a couple instances in some modern music where the songwriter complains about having to write songs--the band-bitching-out-their-label song or the it's-so-hard-to-write-these-damn-songs-i-need-those-little-white-pills-everyone-keeps talking about.

What the hell.

8/26/08

I don't wanna write a news story.

This is over when I say it's over.
This is a lesson in procrastination.
I kill myself because I'm so frustrated.
Every single second that I put it off
Means another lonely night I got to race the clock.
I ignore it and it ignores me too.
What say we go and crash your car?
And every time I leave you go and lock the door.
So I walk myself picking at a chip on my shoulder.
I'm another day late and one year older.
It's failure by design.


-Brand New, Failure By Design
Your Favorite Weapon


Loved it when I was 15, and now it's coming back to haunt me, because it's catchy as hell and once I play it once I want to hear it again. It's stupid and simple and shouty and I will rock out in my own little way to this song for as long as I see fit.

Only, I can't write a news story about not wanting to write news stories the way Jesse Lacey could get away with writing a song about not being able to write a song.

This is over when I say it's over...

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

8/26/08

Okay so, I took a vacation. What are ya gonna do.

But I'm back. Given that I'm at college again, I'll have plenty of time in front of laptop for a blog update each day when I should be doing something else.

This song has been stuck in my head lately. I listened to the record the other day for the first time probably since it came out in 2005. I thought it was great back then, but now it just makes more sense:

"Those boon times went bust
My feet of clay, they dried to dust
The red isn't the red we painted
It's just rust
And the signature thing
That used to bring a following
I have trouble now
Even remembering


So why did I kiss him so hard
Late last Friday night
And keep on letting him change all my plans
I'm either so sick in the head
I need to be bled dry to quit

Or I just really used to love him
I sure hope thats it

I knew that to keep in touch
Would do me deep in dutch
Cuz it isn't the rush of remembering
Its just mush
And the signature thing
Is only growing harrowing
I should have no trouble now
To keep from following

So why did I kiss him so hard
Late last Friday night
And keep on letting him change all my plans
I'm either so sick in the head
I need to be bled dry, to quit
Or I just really used to love him
I sure hope thats it

Those boon times went bust
My feet of clay, they dried to dust
The red isn't the red we painted
Its just rust
And the signature thing
That used to bring a following
I have trouble now
Even remembering

So why did I kiss him so hard
Late last Friday night
And keep on letting him change all my plans
I'm either so sick in the head
I need to be bled dry, to quit
Or I just really used to love him
Or I just really used to love him
Or I just really used to love him
I sure hope that's it"

--Fiona Apple, Tymps (The Sick in The Head Song)
Extraordinary Machine


Maybe I just have a better appreciation for songwriting than I did back then (which may be true), maybe I just have more elaborate tastes (also possible). But Fiona Apple made a really cool album when she wrote "Extraordinary Machine."

There's something theatrical about it. The instrumentation is weird and Radiohead-esuqe at times, her voice is mature and jazzy, and her songwriting is as stream-of-consciousness narrative as ever. Powerful choruses (see "Window" or the above, "Tymps.") and I love a good chorus as much as the next headphone-aholic. She's great at building tension, and resolving it.

"Please Please Please" is a great song, a kind of sociopath anthem that puts you in a good mood. For that alone I respect Fiona Apple, for letting her songwriting say something about people and how they work. I love that line..."But everybody's on the same sad team/and you can hear our sad brains screaming"

Her analysis of emotions in her songwriting is impressive--the metaphors and observations she makes are intimate enough they feel personal, but pretty universal. it's not just like "i'm sad/life sucks/i hope i get hit/by a pick up truck" or whatever other bullshit we're hearing these days. Her ballads feel like 21st century jazz standards (read: awesome). Example:

And it's dangerous work
Trying to get to you too
And I think if I didn't have to
Kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill myself doing it
Maybe I wouldn't think so much of you

-Red Red Red

Good stuff.

Thursday, August 14, 2008

8/13/08

How do i know this?

The chorus of Taylor Swift's "I'd Lie" and that icky "Girl Next Door" song have pretty much exactly the same melody.

Fuck female songwriters and their non-inventive melodies!

My rationalization for why I'm listening to Taylor Swift right now: she did write most an album by herself when she was 16. That's a lot of lyrics, a lots of thoughts. When I first heard that about her I was impressed, but figured it'd be pretty cliche.

Simple in it's song structure & lyrical development, anyone who is or isn't a teenage girl is probably wishing they were and living vicariously through Swift's diary-esque songs. As for her voice, she's no Carrie--she's not powerful, she's breathy and I hear she sucks live, which is not surprising.

Swift deserves credit for getting her career to where it is--she's had a few singles, a few videos, tours. But most of her songs sound EXACTLY the same. Choruses with repeated phrases and simple rhyme, twangy guitar...it's nothing too groundbreaking that she's doing.

So why is she one of country's most popular female artists?

She's fucking honest!

Honesty sells, in all forms. Corporate over-written songs are fake honest, a Hollywood beef-fed lie (whatever that means). And she's so sincere.

Of course her lyrics are simple...you can tell when she wrote this album, she was really talking about all the boys she had crushes on, which I think is cute, and the way it should be.

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

8/12/08

Sweet Jesus, YouTube is dangerous....
...dangerous enough that i spent about 30 minutes watching footage of---gasp!---an American Idol contestant.

The cheesy staging, the screaming 14 year olds, the fact that you vote, the usually shitty-sounding bands in the early rounds...American Idol displays a lot about what's wrong with music today. For that, I hate it. It feels like fucking high school talent show, dance competition bullshit. So FAKE!!!

But I do love seeing talented singers, and sometimes some of them are.

Carly Smithson, an Irish beauty with a hell of a rock and roll voice, made it to the top 6 in the 7th AI competition. Something about her performances stood out to me--she's got a fabulous depth and edge to her voicethat sounds straight out of the 70s.

I really love what she does with her voice--she has incredible control and does lots of scratchy-in-just-the-right places notes, without sounding too much like she's mimicking the Mariahs and Christinas...she just SINGS! I wish more chick singers did that. Shouted & screamed & went all out.

I like the elements of soul that she can put in seemingly any kind song--think Duffy, Amy Winehouse, that whole shtick that's becoming oh-so-cool.
For example....

(WARNING: Do yourself a favor and fast forward all the fucking bullshit, them talking, blah blah blah....)

Come Toegether
(For some reason, I really like this song when it's done by a female.)

Total Eclipse of the Heart
(I am such a sucker for this song to begin with. As if possessed, I must sing! Can't do it as well as Smithson does, though I wish she was more vulnerable.)

Alone
(The chorus of this song is one of my favorite guilty pleasures while driving. I should be shot for my bad taste, but oh well. It's not hurting anyone.)

Without You
(I like it better than Mariah's--never liked her voice all that much.)

Now I LOVE music with a powerful female singer, but what I hate about most of it is that the band behind her usually sucks or is not doing anything fun. Singers like Smithson, powerful female singers, get thrown into the "hey im hard-and-edgy but still popular" category, which is just a contradiction. You can't be hard rock and be pop--at least, not the way you used to. The 60s, 70s, 80s and some 90s have it but I can't think of anyone whose really struck the right balance in the past few years, what with all the manufactured starlettes we have to play with. Miley Cyrus, anyone? Fuck that shit.

I hate the "hey im hard-and-edgy but still popular" shit with a fervor I cannot find words to express, and something in me fears that's where Smithson's career could wind up (if it winds up anywhere other than YouTube.)

How much better would a voice like hers be in something else? A voice like hers should not be in pop, it should be in stuff that's weird and sexy and harsh. Stuff with lots of sounds that are deep and rich as hers. Let a singer be a vocalist, for something written & crafted, and it'd be a much more respectable outlet than trying to score a top 40 hit (or covering old ones).

It's official. I hate myself for watching this many AI clips, and taking them seriously for even less than 45 minutes of my life. Here's hoping somehow, someday, it proves worthwhile that I watch so much stupid shit.

I just dig powerful chick singers. That's all, I swear!

Monday, August 11, 2008

8/11/08

30 years later and it still sounds awesome...

The other day i saw a live Billy Joel concert from 1978--a year after The Stranger was released. What a fucking good album that is. Billy Joel is the man. A premier songwriter, an honest man, but apparently an alcoholic. That's okay though, it happens.

I've been listening to his Greatest Hits (from 1985) a lot this summer. He did a great job of capturing the time period. Hits off of An Innocent man were a tribute to songs of the 50s and 60s, the songs that probably inspired him when he was starting to play.

Of the many things I love about Billy Joel, near the top of the list is his crystal clear inspiration. Every song he writes is directed to someone, or something, about a very specific topic. It makes for something transcendent, in a sing-along-with-it-in-your-car kind of way. Reliable meter, reliable rhyme, i just love the way he tells stories. Watching him solo in that '78 concert was damn impressive too, but no one needs me to to tell the world Billy Joel is a talented musician whose made tons of contributions to modern pop that can hopefully lift hearts and tell someone a little bit about what went on at one point in time.

This is what Joel said about John Mellancamp during the latter's introduction to the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame:

"Don’t let this club membership change you, John. Stay ornery, stay mean. We need you to be pissed off, and restless, because no matter what they tell us - we know, this country is going to hell in a handcart. This country’s been hijacked. You know it and I know it. People are worried. People are scared, and people are angry. People need to hear a voice like yours that’s out there to echo the discontent that’s out there in the heartland. They need to hear stories about it. [Audience applauds] They need to hear stories about frustration, alienation and desperation. They need to know that somewhere out there somebody feels the way that they do, in the small towns and in the big cities. They need to hear it. And it doesn’t matter if they hear it on a jukebox, in the local gin mill, or in a goddamn truck commercial, because they ain’t gonna hear it on the radio anymore. They don’t care how they hear it, as long as they hear it good and loud and clear the way you’ve always been saying it all along. You’re right, John, this is still our country."

i <3 musicians.

Sunday, August 10, 2008

8/10/08

Wedding guest dancers to "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" be damned, "Time after Time" is Cyndi Lauper's best work. Such a powerful song, and a great addition to the growing collection of American pop standards. 'Cause if you ask me, sometimes girls don't want to have fun, they want to be hopeless romantics. This song says it so well:


lying in my bed I hear the clock tick,
and think of you
caught up in circles,
confusion is nothing new
flashback-warm nights-
almost left behind.
suitcases of memories,
time after...

sometimes you picture me,
I'm walking too far ahead.
you're calling to me, I can't hear
what you've said.
Then you say "go slow"
I fall behind,
the second hand unwinds


if you're lost and you will find me
time after time
if you fall I will catch you
I'll be waiting
time after time...
-Cyndi Lauper, "Time After Time"
She's So Unusual (1983)



The original video for the song is weird and adorable and 80s, though Lauper clutching a plastic dog doesn't make too much sense. Usually when I'm lovesick I've got a cigarette in one hand and the other on a non-ringing telephone. Never did find myself a plastic dog to pass the nights with. Makes me sort of sad I missed out on the 80s, I would have thrived.

Lauper is a fantastic musical icon, I hope to see her place in music history sparkle and bounce as much as she does. I love how she managed fun and flair while still delivering honest, artful songwriting. She made a statement she could sell without selling herself, it seems, and I think that's quite an accomplishment.

Today I came across a a stunning rendition by jazz singer Cassandra Wilson. It's her top selling song on iTunes, and it's no wonder because it's a great match up. Wilson's got true jazz pipes--the song gets richer, melodic tones than Lauper performs with. Love you Cyndi, but Wilson is a supreme vocalist, and this song sounds gorgeous in her deep, range. Takes the song from sugary to chcolately, and it's a deeper, more fulfilling taste.

Lauper's acoustic version is equally stunning, a chill-inducing moment of reflection.

Other "Time After Time" covers--pick your flavor.


Rob Thomas
(god i hate Matchbox Twenty. that's all.)

Sarah McLachlan & Cyndi Lauper
(Sarah's fantastic, she's got such quiet control which is so nice on this song. Plus, it's nice to see musicians collaborate like that.)

INOJ
(Totally remember hearing this on the radio when I was in 4th grade)

Miles Davis
(Even if you're not a jazz fan, picking up on the bits you recognize makes this a great interpretation. And check out those pants! Miles, you crazy wonderful musician. He's so cool to watch. And the tension he builds! He really runs with this one, the chorus is hard to find. Really makes it his, almost unrecognizable.)

Novaspace
(This is so unbelievably awful, even as a dance song. i don't want to dance to this! club music can't have this many words! weird ass video, too.)

Saosin
(Doesn't really do much for me, but it does show the span of musicians this song has reached. There isn't really a personal style in this one, though. It's just being sung.)

Eva Cassidy
(Absolutely haunting, she was such an interpreter.)

Cassidy''s version on a Smallville montage. Aww. Love Clark & Lana so much. One of my favorite WB couples from back in the day.

Quietdrive
(This cover hit #25 on the American top 40 charts--not bad for what started, supposedly as a punk band. Although very little of this sounds punk at all to me, which is kind of disappointing. Candy pop punk, I guess.)



...
time after time. Let's see where else this songs goes.

Friday, August 8, 2008

8/8/08

If the only Rufus Wainwright song you have on you iTunes is his or "Across the Universe" cover, you're missing out on one hell of a songwriter.

Theatrical, decadent, explicit and honest, Wainwright consistently manages to bare his soul and pour his heart on top of yours.

His voice is like a stage voice gone flat, and that's okay. Rich and fluid, but pained and just so unique. Varied instrumentation and plenty of string arrangements create a baroque-sounding symphony of a melancholy, homosexual man. (read:awesome, if you like that sort of thing?)

Scores and scores of musicians play on Wainwright's records--a few who are known, most who aren't. It's refreshing to see musicians reach out to others when they're trying to craft their record. There's no isolation, and his records end up being these unfolding panoramas, with all kinds of combinations.

The first record of his that I heard was "Poses," god what a great CD. The opening track, "Cigarettes and Chocolate Milk." is a favorite song of mine. So fluid, so simple. And he plays with keys so well! He can change the mood without letting the song freeze, his melodies are always moving. (if that makes any sense...watch that one ^ and you'll see what i mean).

I love how he makes simple, everyday things such tales. Great with metaphor, too. His themes are consistently the same--heartbreak, society, the usual of a songwriter--but his lyrics strike a balance between colloquial and creative. He manages an optimistic desperation--you savor the sadness but you're not saturated by it. And he's got a sense of humor--poking fun at himself with just the right amount of cheek (see "Old Whore's Diet).

The man just drips of style. Videos feature artful decadence, but there's something almost mocking about it. (See April Fools)

I'm dying to see him live.

Listening Rufus when you're kind of bummed out can be uplifting--his melodies sound like they belong on Broadway, so there's an element of theatrics that's ultimately cheerful if you're into that sort of sound. A Rufus Wainwright CD is great if you're spending the night alone and wish you weren't. He just sounds like he's lonely, too.

Wainwright's for a certain kind of taste, that's for sure. If you're not into stuff that's really traditionally orchestrated (or if you can't get over the gay factor) you probably won't find much depth in it. But if you're looking for something that's fashionable and flavored with just the right amount of sass, he's a fantastic, fantastic find.

A modern minstrel if i ever heard one:

Poses
(Beautiful performance, beautiful, honest song.)

And above all, an entertainer:


Oh, What a World

(Although...really? Why witches? I don't really get it, but that's okay. Do your thing, man.)

Tuesday, August 5, 2008

8/5/08

I'm glad I was there when emo happened. I know "emo" as we've come to define is nearly two decades in the making, but for me, around 2002-2005 is where it all began, where all these artists who seemed to fit me started creeping out of the closet (really, I was just a lonely kid on Limewire)

Jesse Lacey, Adam Lazzarra, John Nolan, Andrew McMahon, Jim Adkins, (and for theatrical measure) Conor Oberst...those guys were writing my fucking soundtrack.

Violence, guns and car crashes from TBS or Brand New, lonely-awkward guy heartbreak from SoCo or Straylight Run, and the madness and drama wrapped up in Bright Eyes' "Fevers and Mirrors"...those kind of songs taught me about love and relationships and people as much as chick flicks marketed toward teenage girls, or Jane Austen or wherever we get all our ideals from.

It was all so bright-sounding, so new to me and so true-to-my-own life. Looking back some of the stories are tragic, some are just plain whiny, and some of the lyrics really fucking suck.

Jimmy Eat World was big, too--the first time I realized SoCo's Konstantine referenced "For Me This is Heaven" I felt like I was discovering a tomb of buried treasure.

Then Elliott Smith's "From a Basement on a Hill" was released when I was 16, and I found out about a whole bunch of other stuff. After lots of classic rock up til high school,combined with lots of Tori Amos from ballet class, trembling songwriting like his was some kind of music for my "still-not-bleeding" ears.

Then there was the first Spill Canvas record, Sunsets and Car Crashes. god such a cheesy title, but I listened to that thing every waking moment. I must've burned 5 copies of that thing because I kept breaking or scratching the ones I'd carry around with me. I preached that record like it was the damn third testament, pawning it off to anyone who would listen to see if it got to them the way it got to me.

I think I had it before it was actually released, too (zomg!!) and I remember hearing different studio versions of the songs and being like "what the fuck happened to my songs!" It's especially noticeable on "Caterpillars" or the backup vocals on the title track.

Made me smile when I heard his single on the XM radio station at work. "All Over You" or whatever. I had to go out and buy that CD when it came out, too. I had to see what he did. It sounds exactly the same to me, the same kind of writing, same kind of phrases all direct and dramatic and frustrated and insistent.

I've made leaps and bounds in my emotional and musical maturity in the past five years, but I hope that fucking CD will always have that same kind of magic to me.


What very well might be on every mix CD i made sophomore year of high school:

Something Vague
(Sing me to death, Conor Oberst! This guy just wails...let's see how his solo album, stripped of the Bright Eyes name, fares with his fans.)

Embers and Envelopes
(I forgot how much I liked Mae. The have a new CD that I really want to hear, but for some reason it would be weird.)

Cute without the "e"
(I never would've admitted loving this song, but you bet I did.)

Punk Rock Princess
(So bright. So bouncy. So cuffed-wrists holding hands. Ah, memories! I still listen to this song, it is so fucking cute, and somehow still sarcastic. And look at McMahon in his sweater. He looks/sounds so young!)


Sweetness
http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif
(Don't ask how I responded when I saw that Paramore was covering that. So many wires in my head got crossed.)

And of course...
The Quiet Things That No One Ever Knows
I remember watching that video to death. "Your Favorite Weapon" was an instant favorite as soon as I heard it, for whatever reason, I downloaded it, I think, after hearing Seventy Times Seven. When I looked them up and realized they had just released this second record...well, next time I was at the mall with my mom I took my restaurant paycheck and bought "Deja Entendu." Peeled through those liner notes, I couldn't believe what this dude was saying and how it sounded.

Still fucking love that song.

8/4/08

Anyone else click on "The New Facebook?"

I imagine this is what an alternate universe feels like.

Monday, August 4, 2008

8/4/08

And her mom's from Indiana and she
She married an Asian man and they
They brought her from Japan to be
Happily suburban and I
I met her one summer when I was
I was just visiting ten days
Her wrists were island thin but she
She smiled like her Indie kin
And she's half

She's into strictly rich and
Overworked businessmen
She don't remember when
She used to hold my hands
After the Rollerland
After she closed the stand
Now it's supply and demand
And it just comes down to the math
And she's half

And she's half
--The American-Analog Set, "She's Half"
Set Free

When read, these lyrics create a stunning image of a girl.

What really gets me is when you think about the fact that he wrote this about a real person. It's touching and poignant. The detail, the history of where this girl comes from and where she is now, you can picture a well-dressed, shiny-haired thin woman in business chic, a girl who once ran around holding hands with indie guys with guitars. The fact he only met her when he was around for 10 days-- How many times did he see her? How old were they? The fact that holding hands seems so poignant, and yet was that all they did or just what stood out?

Creepy eerie harmonies on the repeated "she's half" line, matched with the soft bells as percussion are magical, which sound somehow exotic and familiar at the same time. (Couldn't find a streaming link of the song anywhere--je suis desole, live YouTube will have to work). Plus, soft male vocals have a great effect on ambiance, i think--like when Thom Yorke gets all creepy-high, or Chris Martin, Sufjan Stevens.

There's a hint of regret in this song,a soft anger at how things ended up. Something a lot more furious than the lightness lets on. It gets in at the end, with the repeated echoes. Somehow it's not as sweet as it seemed.

The rest of their record is okay,I guess I haven't listened to it that much. It has one lone comment on songmeanings.net--one of the best ways to gauge how songwriting touches the Internet masses within all their personalized lenses. (I love thumbing message boards for that reason--people say some weird shit).

Pretty okay as a song, but great, i think, read as poetry.

Sunday, August 3, 2008

8/3/08

If you haven't heard of The Hold Steady yet, you're about to. The Brooklyn-based five piece's fourth album "Stay Positive" is yet another well-crafted and emotionally poignant album, with piano and guitar solos galore, and chorus's that you'll want to hear over and over again.


"Stay Positive"
deals with more mature themes than previous release--this one is about kids growing up, and how to hang on the passion that got you there so far (hence the album title). Though they've only been together since 2004, they've made it to a great place so far in the industry. With a close following and critical success, The Hold Steady's discography is just beginning.

Their third album, "Boys and Girls in America" (2006), is a fantastic record. It tells a story, one everyone knows so well. It's a story of growing up in America, falling in love with your friends and the stupid, wonderful stuff that happens within all that.At least, I think it is.


Hey citrus, hey liquor
i love it when you touch each other
hey whiskey, hey ginger
i come to you with rigid fingers
i see Judas in the hard eyes
of the boys who worked in the corners
i feel Jesus in the clumsiness of young and awkward lovers

hey bar roommate tavern
i find hope in all the souls you gather
hey citrus, hey liquor
i love it when we come together
i feel Jesus in the clumsiness of young and awkward lovers
I feel Judas in the long odds of the rackets on the corners
I feel jesus in the tenements of honest, nervous lovers
I feel Judas in the pistols and the pagers that come with all the powders

lost in fog and love and faith was fear
and I've had kisses that make Judas seem sincere
lost in fog and love and faith was fear
I've had kisses that make Judas seem sincere
-The Hold Steady, Citrus
Boys and Girls in America


"Citrus," an acoustic moment in an otherwise quite boisterous record, is a reflective moment with just the right amount of context. Great metaphor in this song--coming together like citrus and liquor. What a common combination and what a great comparison.

I love the line this record opens on--"There are nights when I think Sal Paradise was right." Right from the get-go you know these guys must have something to say if they're referencing Jack Kerouac. And they're so good at setting scenes, references to dimly lit bars or all-ages matinée hardcore shows.

More tastes of The Hold Shttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gifteady, in all their classic rock-inspired deliciousness:


"First Night"



"Sequestered in Memphis"


Craig Finn's gritty vocals, careful meter in every verse and great blues-rock piano are a powerful combination. Though they've only been around for a few years, they've gotten a fair amount of attention from music magazines, with numerous comparisons to Ameriana rock legends like Springsteen and Billy Joel for today's kids (namely the ones that are still growing up).

Curious to see what happens in the wake of "Stay Positive," a success so far with plenty of great reviews. Hopefully, they'll retain their authenticity despite any amounts of success that come their way, because I think that's what makes The Hold Steady such a standout sound in modern indie rock.

They don't try to say anything other than what they seem to already be thinking about, and in their growing fan base, they seem to be creating the "unified scene" they keep singing about. I'm pretty sure they've even made t-shirts with the phrase on it by now. Keep singing about the kids at shows, and pretty soon they'll hear what you're saying.

Saturday, August 2, 2008

8/2/08

I don't know about anyone else, but I can't wait to see what Rilo Kiley lead singer Jenny Lewis comes up with next.

Her second solo album comes out this September and I, personally, am stoked. Lewis fronts indie-pop group Rilo Kiley, whose 2007 release "Under the Blacklight" seemed to let down their cult of hipster fans.

The band noticeably strayed from the folk, acoustic sound that made them such a hit.

"Under the Blacklight" was a sex-infused album both lyrically and instrumentally, with everything from Latin to disco to 70s rock to candy-pop sounds.

Add in some serious themes: "Close Call" is about prostitution, "15" is about a way too young girl with a way too old man, "Moneymaker" seems to be as much about stripping as selling yourself for anything.

I thought the album was well titled--with lots of rhythm guitar, upbeat dance-able tracks and Lewis' sultry tones it's easy to envision the songs being performed in a dirty, dive bar somewhere in the middle of nowhere.

But the difference to early fans was clear. Listen to something off of "Take Offs and Landings" (2001) like "Plane Crash in C" then a track like the disco-dance track "Breaking Up" and you might wonder if it's even the same musicians.

It's not a bad record, I don't think, despite the fact it's been called a disappointment. I think it's just a different kind of record, with different kinds of stories, and frankly, I think they're good enough musicians to pull it off.

And, as we saw on her first solo album, "Rabbit Fur Coat," Lewis's voice is so well-suited for bluesy soulful drawls. It's sexy and authentic, and a more powerful sound than the breathy, nearly spoken style she often used in their other albums. The songs seem written to fit that without mimicking the Southern gospel of "Rabbit Fur Coat." Her sound changed and, thus, Rilo Kiley has changed as well.

So needless to say, I am crazy-excited for her next solo record. It's called "Acid Tongue" (!!), and I'm hoping that's exactly how it sounds.

Friday, August 1, 2008

8/1/08

Death Cab for Cutie--love songs for those who don't necessarily want to feel like that's what they're listening to.

I was slightly disappointed by the band's newest release, "Narrow Stairs." They're great musicians, but the album lacks meaning, and songs seem more written-to-get-an-album-finished than composed. The single "I Will Possess Your Heart," seems to be an exception. There's some great instrumentation, in it's full length version but compared to their old stuff,song themes seem much more easy-to-read in terms of what he's singing about. There's a lot packed in there about relationships, but most of it seems pretty regretful, or at least hopeless.

"The Ice is Getting Thinner," the last track, seems to put the nail in the "we're over" coffin. "We buried our love in a wintery grave/a lump in the snow was all that remained/but we stayed by it's side as the days turned to weeks/and the ice kept getting thinner with every word that we'd speak."

Despite the powerful moments that there on "Narrow Stairs," they seem few compared to what Death Cab did on other records. I thought their last album, "Plans" had much stronger songs as a whole.

Love of mine some day you will die
But I'll be close behind
I'll follow you into the dark
No blinding light or tunnels to gates of white
Just our hands clasped so tight
Waiting for the hint of a spark

If Heaven and Hell decide
That they both are satisfied
Illuminate the Nos on their vacancy signs
If there's no one beside you

When your soul embarks
Then I'll follow you into the dark

In Catholic school as vicious as Roman rule
I got my knuckles bruised by a lady in black
And I held my tongue as she told me
"Son fear is the heart of love"
So I never went back

If Heaven and Hell decide
That they both are satisfied
Illuminate the Nos on their vacancy signs
If there's no one beside you
When your soul embarks
Then I'll follow you into the dark

You and me have seen everything to see
From Bangkok to Calgary
And the soles of your shoes are all worn down
The time for sleep is now
It's nothing to cry about
Cause we'll hold each other soon
The blackest of rooms

If Heaven and Hell decide
That they both are satisfied
Illuminate the Nos on their vacancy signs
If there's no one beside you
When your soul embarks
Then I'll follow you into the dark
Then I'll follow you into the dark

--Death Cab For Cutie, I Will Follow You Into The Dark
Plans


This song is like the sensitive modern young guy's "I Will Always Love You," or something equally blatant. It's poetic and simple, honest and touching. Great imagery, too--you can see that neon sign in the distance, with the illuminated no. Points for comparing heaven to a roadside motel.

It's such a loyal, declarative love--i'll follow you wherever. But it's not too idealistic. After all, it is about what happens when you die. Seems to be a reoccurring theme for Gibbard. I think what's so beautiful about this song is the everlasting hope that's intertwined with death. Live a long, satisfying life full of sights and sounds, then, like tired travelers, find somewhere to stay when it's time to rest, or at least have someone to rest with. It's a nice thought. Quietly dressed with acoustic guitar, these lyrics standout like a beacon in what is otherwise a complex (read: awesome) album of interesting sounds and song development.

Now, I don't think they should've made the same record twice, but "Narrow Stairs" feels like a step backward. "Plans" was so good.

But who knows, maybe it's themes will grow on me, when the time is right for those songs to mean something, too.

Thursday, July 31, 2008

7/31/08

In her lacy black uniform, with her tales of gypsys and angels and loving Lindsey Buckingham more than life itself, it seems, Stevie Nicks is easily one of my favorite songwriters, definitely favorite female songwriter. Her love songs are heartbreaking, her stories are fantastical, and no one needs telling that she's got passion for what she does.

I kind of adore her, actually--though i don't think i would ever personally refer to myself as a priestess. Either way, keep doing your thing, Stevie.

This song is a lesser-known example--lots of people know Landslide or Edge of Seventeen or Rhiannon and can recognize that they're great songs in their own rights. I came across this song by accident when I worked in the city it's named for.

You could be my silver spring
Blue-green colors flashing
I would be your only dream
Your shining over ocean crashing

Don't say that she's pretty
And did you say that she loved you
Baby I don't want to know

So I begin not to love you
Turn 'round, see me running
I say I loved you years ago
But tell myself you never loved me no

And don't say that she's pretty
And did you say that she loved you
Baby I don't want to know

And can you tell me was it worth it
Baby I don't want to know

Time cast a spell on you
But you won't forget me
I know I could have loved you
But you would not let me

Time cast a spell on you
But you won't forget me
I know I could have loved you
But you would not let me

I follow you down 'till the sound
Of my voice will haunt you
You'll never get away from the sound
Of the woman who loves you
--Fleetwood Mac, Silver Spring


Silver Spring was cut off the legendary Rumours--Fleetwood Mac's best-selling album, I believe, which has sold more than 30 million copies worldwide. It's a powerful song, though, and I wonder how it would've affected the feel of Rumours.

What a meaningful line--"you'll never get away from the sound of the woman who loves you." People stay with you over the years. We fight, cry, swear to never speak to each other again, or--sometimes even more sadly--drift away in silence. But every now and then, those people can creep into your subconscious, and sometimes, they can still get under your skin.

I think, with time and moving on, those feelings can go away. But in a love affair like Nicks had with Buckingham, the moving on is relative. She captured her feelings so well in this song and many others, that her songwriting is often tragically romantic.

The last minute or so of the song is especially potent. This performance sends shivers down my spine every time, the way she and Lindsey are just staring at each other. I remember seeing the Rumours cassette tape in my mother's collection as a kid, and i can still so clearly remember staring at the cover, thinking how royal and beautiful and mysterious these musicians looked. It's easy for me to love Fleetwood Mac for having such a great balance of reality and fantasy, storytelling and personal documenting.

The story of Silver Spring, in Stevie's own words

7/30/08

Elliott's Smith song collection has got a whole lot of heartbreak to pine along to. Folk style storytelling with John Keats-like kind of emotions--he was a fantastic songwriter.

You don't deserve to be lonely
But those drugs you got won't make you feel better
Pretty soon you'll find it's the only
Little part of your life you're keeping together

I'm nice to you
I could make it through
That you're already somebody's baby
I could make you smile
If you stayed a while
But how long will you stay with me, baby?
-Elliott Smith, Twilight
From a Basement on a Hill

There's a string break that occurs almost exactly midway in the song that makes something that was so simple seem so much more epic. It's so satisfying, and the same phrase repeats so much it's almost hypnotic. Hypnotized is how i want to feel when i'm listening to a singer/songwriter/acoustic guitar musician like Smith. i want it to be sad and dreamy and beautiful. Joshua Radin, The Spill Canvas-i think they're pretty good at it too, for their respective genres, but they lack the dusty-trail sound that Smith's got in his guitar playing.

He's got that drug chic dripping all over his lyrics, making it a tripped-up, tragic love song for the doomed-from-the-start-everyone's-down-chips kind of romance. He's got in his breathy high notes, too, and in the pop-structure chords, that hypnotic thing. Oh the 90s. You had some great stuff.

i read this book from the 33 1/3 series that reminded me "My Heart Will Go On" beat "Miss Misery" for the Oscar for Best Original Song. Caused the author of a book to write a whole book about why people care about Celine Dion, if somehow a song like that mattered more to the Academy than a sing-along-to-the-sad-story kind of song like Miss Misery.

But Smith sounds a bit different to those who got into him after his death i think. He's a learning tool for us, and while current fans may have really valued his musicianship, those listening closely might take his messages different than his fans did then. It might go for anyone whose art survives them if that's what they were well known for when they were alive--does it resonate differently to the person depending on when they became fans?

I'm inclined to say yes. John Lennon's fans when he was doing all his solo work for example, compared to those who listen to what he's saying now--taken in totally different contexts. To them, he was talking about their plights, and now, we can relate them to ours. People here are still singin' "Imagine" and "Give Peace a Chance" but it's about different issues, with even more history piled on top of what those songs stand for.

The fact we're still singing them? That's a whole other show.

Twilight, from YouTube.

Sidenote: i still don't know how i feel about people putting covers of themselves singing on YouTube. Are you trying to get discovered? Looking for advice to gauge your talent? i don't know, and i don't think there's a wrong answer but, something about it is interesting. There's fucking tons of them.