Saturday, December 31, 2011

12/31/11

Amidst scanner traffic in my right ear, and the dull static of muted televisions in my left, a variety of songs are running through my head. They are comforting, but I am cynical in spite of their hope.

"These things will change....
Can you feel it now...
These walls that they put up to hold us back will fall down..."
~Change
Taylor Swift, Fearless

"Till the day when I stop making big mistakes...
And the clouds, they roll out of this whole damn state...
I believe in a place that I wanna go...
Honesty will leave me feeling liveable...
Once I change..."

~Good Things
The Dangerous Summer, War Paint

I'm feeling changeable. Maybe it's the new job. Maybe it is because it's New Year's Eve. Maybe it's because I don't like the changes this year brought.

I think we need songs about change, especially when we're going through it. We want to know that there is another side to our present, that there are new seeds to be a sown on a yet-undiscovered field. It makes it triumphant, it gives you something to stick your chest out for, but really it's all for show. Really, change is frightening.

I just know I had what I wanted and it all changed. Now I have nothing but time, plus boatlods of frustration and sorrow to channel into something creative, a life's mission I've done everything in my power to avoid having to succumb to completely.

You can change everything about your life - your job, your friends, your community, and you can mark time all you want with days, weeks, months, years. But you can't change who you are, and you can't run away from it.

I can tear down all the barriers I want to get to where I say I want to go, but it won't change these desires. It won't make them go away.

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

12/28/11

Heart. Floor. Broken.



"You only know what I want you to
I know everything you don't want me to
Oh your mouth is poison, your mouth is wine
You think your dreams are the same as mine
Oh I don't love you but I always will
Oh I don't love you but I always will
Oh I don't love you but I always will
I always will

I wish you'd hold me when I turn my back
The less I give the more I get back
Oh your hands can heal, your hands can bruise
I don't have a choise but I'd still choose you

Oh I don't love you but I always will
Oh I don't love you but I always will
Oh I don't love you but I always will
I always will"

~Poison & Wine
The Civil Wars, Barton Hollow

With words this strong, you don't need many of them. True ballads tell stories, and often songwriters take this out to six or seven minutes of several verses and bridges, naming characters and time and places. This is a love song, for that long-lost yet still-here type of love. I cannot stop listening/playing it (for the record -- it's capo 6, I think).

On a different note, this album, "Barton Hollow," quickly captured my heart. It's three parts Americana, one part pop-folk. The match-up of incredible harmonies and value in simplicity seem fit from a 19th century midwest farm, but purity, drama and honesty create a lyrical quality no era can avoid. "Poison & Wine" is a radio-bred tune, to be sure, but "I've Got This Friend" and "Forget Me Not" almost surely grew up drinking midday sweet tea on Tennessee plantations.

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

12/27/11

My Top 10 Favorite Albums in 2011

I'm hesitant to call this a "best of the year" list, because best is a very subject term. So, here are my favorites:

10)Foo Fighters - Wasting Light
They still got it. No lie. I've seen enough live performances from this album to know that NO one can rock a room like the Foos. "Walk" is likely one of the best mainstream rock songs that came out this year, and Dave Grohl & co. continue to make their messages known and connect with society. Even thought "Wasting Light" may not have the staying power of their other catalog titles, the band still sure does.

9)Manchester Orchestra - Simple Math
A band we hadn't heard from in a minute came back with power, with perspective and punch. Take a listen to the title track, or "Apprehension" and you'll see that Andy Hull pours out his heart like it's made of cheap vodka. True, that's the biographical text we've come to know and love from this band, but this time around in it's a new glaze. Emo chords are traded in for darker, twisted sounds, and there's as much layering as there is stripped-down, laid-bare musings.

8)The Dangerous Summer - War Paint
This band captured my heart early in the year when I discovered "Reach for the Sun," and when their sophomore "War Paint" came out, the band quickly became the soundtrack to my summer. Loss, redemption, struggle, rinse, repeat. The title track is a rallying call to rise above, "Work in Progress" is a retreat from the world. Album closer "Waves" could make you conquer the world, while reminding your loved ones to do the same.

7)Bon Iver - Bon Iver
It had been too long since "For Emma, Forever Ago" and we needed to hear from Bon Iver again. We did, this fall, and the self-titled album captures a place that feels snowy, warm, effervescent. "Minnesota, WI" is just one example of how production should enhance instrumentation, not bury it, and "Towers" clips along almost like an Old West saloon song, maybe one that mated with binary. I dig the style.

6) The Joy Formidable - The Big Roar
I discovered the Welch trio on Pandora around the same time this album came out and holy shit was I blown away. Shoegazey rock? Big guitars? Chick singer? Count me in! Don't let the radio edit of "Whirring" fool you - these guys know their riffs, they know their layers, and they know how to blow your mind.

5)Ryan Adams - Ashes and Fire
One of my most-anticipated albums of 2011, and it didn't let me down a drop. Ryan is back with a pillow-soft smile, but the beat-up, broke-down desperation lives on. "Lucky Now" will hopefully be played on Grey's Anatomy when the second half of this season airs. If I'm lucky. Songs like "Dirty Rain," "Save Me" and the title track show that Ryan Adams is a master of the ballad formula in its truest sense, and with this album he's shown us no age, illness, marriage or critique will keep him from developing his talents.

4)Wilco - The Whole Love
Wilco is an awesome band. We knew this, we knew this because of "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot," we knew this because of "Sky Blue Sky" but Jeff Tweedy continues to come up with some of the catchiest, sly-ist little songs I've ever heard. "Born Alone" is the type of song that makes me want to dye my hair dirty blonde, wear daisies behind my ears and hop in a pick-up owned by a guy with just the right amount of stubble on his cheeks. This album should be enough to make this band triumphantly mainstream, but for some reason I still feel like they are kind of under everyone's radar. Maybe that's where they want to be.

3)The Decemberists - The King is Dead
"Don't Carry it All" is, in my opinion, the song that sums up where we need to go as a society. And for that, I give them extreme props. While it's lacking a strict storyline, you know what this record is about all the same and I think that's a strength. Instead of a script, characters and drama, we have scenes and messages. I also know that "Down by the Water" was overplayed like a motherfucker on indie radio, so we can only assume that means The Decemberists, with this release, are cemented in indie history. Applause.

2)Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues
"What good is it to sing helplessness blues?/Why should I wait for anyone else?" If you're looking for political philosophy musings as you yearn for an apple orchard to run through, Fleet Foxes will certainly soothe your desires. This is a band who I respected and enjoyed, and that's only been furthered by this record. It rises, peaks and falls like an orchestra might, uncovering safeness in smallness and boldness in triumph.

1)The Wonder Years - Suburbia I've Given You All and Now I'm Nothing
Just when I thought I was maturing out of pop punk, The Wonder Years came along and gave me a reason to stay. I was familiar with a few songs from their last release, "The Upsides," and picked up "Suburbia" on a whim 'cause I liked the title. I am a little amazed at the story they've woven through this record. You can see the sad town, you can feel the bitter winter, and you can hear the kids partying in backyards late at night. The opening track is an anthem for recovery from the toughest falls, the longest stretches of self-deprecating doubt. "And Now I'm Nothing" is acceptance, surrender to the now and the way it is. In between, "I Won't Say the Lord's Prayer" is an atheist seeking not answers but apathy, and "I've Given You All" is my favorite song I've ever heard about a homeless man. If you were about to write off the genre, don't, because the honesty is still there. This is the record for those who want to get out of this town and start again, even if there's no way out yet.


Honorable mentions to the following albums which I enjoy but have not listened to thoroughly enough to rank against the others: The Black Keys - El Camino; The Civil Wars - Barton Hallow; Laura Marling - A Creature I Do Not Know; Dia Frampton - Red.

EDIT: Aw shit I forgot about Taking Back Sunday. With John Nolan! I missed them in concert 'cause my car died and I was kind of homeless for a couple days. But good record, blasted it many times on 5 and 20 in Canandaigua.

EDIT 2: Iron and Wine! I suck at this.

Monday, December 26, 2011

12/26/11

Brian Fallon acoustic - better or not better than The Gaslight Anthem? Discuss.



He seems kind of drunk? Then again it's pretty. Then again, it's not terrifically complicated guitar playing. But it is quite beautiful, so who cares? He's kind of working a soft-punch punk Ryan Adams vibe, and it's pretty fantastic.

Need to see a show. Stat.

Friday, December 23, 2011

12/23/11

Obligatory. Beautiful. I don't know if there are any books out there about "Clarity" as a whole, a la the 33 1/3 series which I am very much a fan of.

But if there is such a literary work, I hope it mentions how it takes a special band to capture the sadness/emptiness that comes with the holidays without being slit-your-wrists depressing. Truly we all feel some kind of desperation this time of year — we're single, we don't like our job, we have no money, we've let the ones we love and care for slip out of our fingers as we self-serve day after day.

It's OK to feel those things. And it's OK to sing about them.




"I didn't mean to leave you hanging on
I didn't mean to leave you all alone
I didn't know what to say."
~12.23.95
Jimmy Eat World, Clarity

12/23/11

See I got this soul. It's all fired up.
~All Fired Up
Interpol, Our Love to Admire



Interpol is the intersection between sexy, druggy rock and socio-political philosophy. Then again, most of my favorite music is.

Thursday, December 22, 2011

12/22/11

We like to say "It's complicated," or "We have a history." We like to pretend the goings-on between two people are layered and deep and meaningful to some unidentifiable depth.

But it's not, really. You either want something, or you don't. Everything else is just denial, justification, semantics and poetry.



"Hunter eyes
I'm lost and hardly noticed, slight goodbye
I want to rip your lips off in my mouth
And even in my greatest moment doubt
The line between deceit and right now

Simple math, it's how our bodies even got here
Sinful math, the ebb and flow to multiply
What if I was wrong and no one cared to mention
What if it was true and all we thought was right was wrong?
Simple math, the truth cannot be fractioned
Either way...

I imply to mitigate the guilt, we could align
A perfectly constructed alibi
To hush the violent guilt that eats and never dies
In actual blame, they call me once the dark divides

Simple math, it's why our bodies even lay here
Sinful math, the truth cannot be fashioned
What if you were crazy, would we have to listen then?

What if we've been trying to get to where we’ve always been?
What if I was wrong, and started trying to fix it?
What if you believed me? Everything is brilliant

What if I’ve been trying to get to where I’ve always been?
What if we’ve been trying to get to where we’ve always been?
Simple math, believe me, all is brilliant
What if we've been trying to kill the noise and silence?

What if I was wrong and you had never questioned it?
What if it was true, that all we thought was right, was wrong?
Simple math, the truth cannot be fractioned
I simply I've got to get it back then"

~Simple Math
Manchester Orchestra, Simple Math

Sunday, December 18, 2011

12/18/11



I'll find that the more I think about what could be, what might happen, the more I retreat to bad habits, insecurities and sleeping pills. There is no need for this. Looking ahead is the only direction that truly matters.

Perspective is inevitable. You don't have to try to learn from it — your instincts will tell you where not to go again. The same gut feeling will tell your head to make your jaws pry open your mouth and spit, scream or say the words that make change happen.

*Note the sad song/muppets contrast. Pretty cool, guys.


"Yesterday when you were young
Everything you needed done was done for you
Now you do it on your own
But you find you're all alone, what can you do?

You and me walk on, walk on, walk on
'Cause you can't go back now

You know there will be days
When you're so tired
That you can't take another step
The night will have no stars
And you'll think you've gone as far
As you will ever get


You and me walk on, walk on, walk on
'Cause you can't go back now

And yeah, yeah, you go where you want to go
Yeah, yeah, be what you want to be
If you ever turn around, you'll see me

I can't really say
Why everybody wishes they were somewhere else
But in the end, the only steps that matter
Are the ones you take all by yourself


You and me walk on, walk on, walk on
Yeah, you and me walk on, walk on, walk on
'Cause you can't go back now
Walk on, walk on, walk on
You can't go back now"

~Can't go back now
The Weepies

Friday, December 16, 2011

12/16/11



It's difficult for me to explain why I've made some recent decisions in my life. But when your insides don't match your outsides, sometimes complete departure, forcing the fall to rock bottom, is the best way to build a new life. A better life, even.

But the intermediate is a dark, lonely place, where everything you pass might the window you should've opened, the path you should've taken. But there is no should, there is only going through now to get to the later.

"I was born in a town where the rivers flow free
On a January night when the cold winds freeze
I got an Irish name and an injury
Blessing and a curse cast down on me
Ain't nobody got the blues like me
Ain't nobody got the blues like me

Was a blood red sky on the morning tide
Was a cold wind blowing when I left that night
And the morning bells rang, alright, alright
Shoulda stayed home with you that night
Ain't nobody played the fool like I
Ain't nobody played the fool like I

Things got bad and things got worse
Half like blessing, half like curse
It's these blessings so hard to see sometimes
Gotta little clearer about dusk last night
Ain't nobody got a blessing like mine
Ain't nobody got a blessing like mine

It's a red sky night and I'm doing alright
It's a red sky night and I'm doing just fine"

~Red at Night
The Gaslight Anthem, Sink or Swim

Thursday, December 15, 2011

12/15/11

I will make an album of the year list. And it will include
The Dangerous Summer
The Wonder Years
Ryan Adams
The Decemberists
Fleet Foxes
Watch the Throne


and probably some others.

12/15/11

Love thissss.....it's like a music theory orgasm. And I don't use that word lightly.



Ahhh. Play it again. It feels so good. And Beatles source tapes?! Gyah!

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Thursday, November 24, 2011

11/24/11




"Get a real job, keep the wind at your back and the sun on your face.
All the immediate unknowns are better than knowing this tired and lonely fate.
Does he love you, does he love you? Will he hold your tiny face in his hands?
I guess it's spring; I didn't know; it's always seventy-five with no melting snow.
A married man, he visits me, I recieve his letters in the mail twice a week.
I think he loves me and when he leaves her,he's coming out to California

I guess it all worked out; there's a ring on your finger and the baby's due out.
You share a place by the park and run a shop for antiques downtown.
And he loves you, yeah he loves you, and the two of you will soon become three.
And he loves you, even though you used to say you were flawed if you weren't free.
Let's not forget ourselves, good friend. You and I were almost dead.
You're better off for leaving, you're better off for leaving.

Late at night, i get the phone. You're at the shop sobbing all alone.
Your confession, it's coming out.
You only married him because you felt your time was running out.
Now you love him, and your baby. At last, you are complete.
But he's distant and you found him on the phone pleading, saying
'Baby i love you and i'll leave her and i'm coming out to California...'
Let's not forget ourselves, good friend. I am flawed if I'm not free.
Your husband will never leave you, he will never leave you for me"

~Does He Love you?
Rilo Kiley, More Adventerous

Thursday, November 17, 2011

11/17/11

Driving down 490 east, light snowfall, My Sundown on. Oh, good things.

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

11/8/11

Not only does this song have killer dynamics and trance-like timing per what we've come to know and love about Mutemath, but it's got quite the message.

Also: note the keytar.



The crowds roll by and I'm falling in
Everyone's invincible, but it's just pretend
And we all freaked out, what a shame
When only tears know how to remind us we all break the same
We all break the same

Everything we've built could be our demise
It's the sticks and stones that wear us down that often save our lives
And we all freaked out, what a shame
When only tears know how to remind us we all break the same
We all break the same

The different stars tonight will somehow fade the same
And all the tears we cry tell us we're made the same
And when we fall aside, let's hope we fall in place
We built our different lives, but they all break the same

Break the same

Different worlds and different hearts
Different souls and different parts
We all, we all break the same

~Break the Same
Mutemath, Mutemath

11/8/11

This feels extra good today. Truisms. Lately it's felt like so much is worthless, I'm this angry, jaded version of me.



"Well if you're in from the start
Then we're in this together
If you're not then I'll have to
Take on this world
Cause this world can't take on me
I won't let go
I feel so lost without it
Crawl down my throat
I just can't think about it now

If it's your turn to live
Then it's my turn to give it up

And if you drop the bomb
Then I'll pick it up

I'm afraid to be
(I'd stick it out by my heart can't hack it)
Just an example of inconsistency
I feel like I'm jaded
I've given it all I have to give
Burnt out, frustrated
I feel like I'm an enemy of the world
"

~Enemy of the World
Four Year Strong, Enemy of the World

Friday, November 4, 2011

11/4/11



In a "Pretend You're Alive" mood tonight.

Because sometimes, that is the only way to convince yourself to keep going on. Pretend. Sooner or later you're be some place new, and it won't be so hard to move on.

Monday, October 31, 2011

10/31/11



The absurdity level of this video is pretty high, and for that I'm grateful.

Saturday, October 15, 2011

10/15/11



This makes me want to see them live.

"In the backseats of burned out cars.
In the disenchantment lane.
The ideal angels twist and turn and ask forgiveness for future mistakes.
But you and I we've been through this.
Maybe 100 times before.
Always hitching rides with strangers.
Papa warned us about before

But you know the summer always brought it.
That wild and reckless breeze.
And in the backseats we just tried to find some room for our knees.
And in the backseats we just tried to find some room to breathe.
And in the backseats we just tried to find some room to breathe.

And in the wild desert sun, we drove straight on through the night.
We rode the fever out of Boston.
Dreamed of California lights.
Come July, we'll ride the Ferris Wheel.
Go round and round and round.
And if you never let me go, well I will never let you down.

And you know the summer always brought it.
All those wild and reckless breezes.
And in the backseats we just tried to find some room for our knees.
And in the backseats we just tried to find some room to breathe.
And now the backseats we just try to find some room to breathe.

And these cowboys all go crazy in the heat.
Chasing the lights in all the girls
along the Santa Anna streets that they're just dying to meet.
It meant nothing to me.


You know the summer always brought it.
That wild and reckless breeze.
And in the backseats we just tried to find some room for our knees."

~The Backseat
The Gaslight Anthem, The '59 Sounds

Friday, October 7, 2011

10/7/11

I never stop feeling strange
cause you never know if you really change
you can never tell if you're center stage
is thin as glass, and never meant a thing
and you never feel good or bad only strange and unprepared
cause I never see you coming or you leaving
now we'll always never know
now we'll always
now we'll always never know
now we'll always

-Strange and Unprepared
Copeland, You Are My Sunshine


Saturday, October 1, 2011

10/1/11

"She had something to confess to
But you don't have the time so
Look the other way
You will wait until it's over
To reveal what you'd never shown her
Too little much too late

Too long trying to resist it
You've just gone and missed it
It's escaped your world

Can you see that I am needing
Begging for so much more
Than you could ever give
And I don't want you to adore me
Don't want you to ignore me
When it pleases you
And I'll do it on my own"

~Muscle Museum,
Muse, Showbiz

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

9/27/11

Chillz.



I've always liked Adams, really got into him this past winter. So this new material, as fantastic as it is, is riding a great wave.

Monday, September 26, 2011

9/26/11

Kind of drunk tonight, listening to Ashes and Fire on NPR and it makes me feel like everything is going to be OK, even if it's not right now.

I lost my iPod last week. Surviving sure, singin less in the car though. Had my first playing/singing performance last week. I did not think it went well,haha, chords were all fumbly, but friends said they loved it and that was enough to make it worth it.

Ryan sounds so amazing on this album. I am loving it. It is strong and sweet and simple and sad. It is endearing in its authenticity. And that is why we love music so much, right? What's real about it? Even the pop tunes you can't help but like (like that fucking 'my heart's a stereo' tune I hear every goddamned day) it's when they make you think of something or someone or some feeling that they complete you. Even if its for two seconds and then you're all like "Damn, this song is terrible" and put on jazz.

Ashes and Fire, however, is right where I need it to be.

It makes me want to be in a dusty bar somewhere, with blinking neon lights and smooth-but-worn bar stools. Light draft beer and a bartender who doesn't care.

"Kindness" is one of the most beautiful, pure songs I've heard in sooooooooo long. Love it. "Lucky Now" got me at first listen when it was released, and "Come Home" just makes me cry.

Friday, September 23, 2011

9/23/11

Tonight I did a ballsy thing. I picked up a guitar and played Taylor Swift's "Fearless" in front of about 20-24 people, about a dozen of whom I actually trust and love to love me regardless, and I did an awful job.Guess I sang pretty good, according to reviews, but my guitar playing was AWFUL. Around 60 percent of the chords I hit wrong. Dayum. I even changed the c's to Cadd's of ogme kind..? idk what I was doing. Was vodka drunk and feeling reckless, last open mic night in Canandaigua and all. I've sang there, well and with comfort, but not played.

I'm glad I did it. Even if it sucked. It felt....awesome.

Sunday, September 18, 2011

9/18/11



"The road gets cold, there's no spring in the meadow this year
I'm the new chicken clucking open hearts and ears
Oh, such a prima donna, sorry for myself
But green, it is also summer
And I won't be warm 'til I'm lying in your arms

No amount of coffee, no amount of crying
No amount of whiskey, no amount of wine
No, no, no, no, no
Nothing else will do
I've gotta have you, I've gotta have you"

~Gotta Have You,
The Weepies, Say I am You

Friday, September 9, 2011

9/9/11

I iz liking playing guitar. Figured out how to tune it with no help today! Well, I used an app, but still. Was all by lonesome. Accomplishment of the day.

Sunday, September 4, 2011

9/4/11

I do love this song. Heard it on a mixtape.




"I'm looking for the upsides to these panic attack nights
Where I'm staying in eating take out food by TV light
I'm trying to play the b-side to this awkward life of mine
You could flip me over, I'd sing a few lines about how
I'm so used to shooting myself in the kneecaps
Standing in the way of progress
Or letting down my friends


So I'm nailing shards of hope together
To put something over my head
Cause you know here it's always raining
And it happened again, it happened again
She said, I let this slide when we were younger
You know you don't have to write like this
The whole world's full of losers
If you get a chance to win, take it"

~Washington Square Park
The Wonder Years, The Upsides

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

8/24/11



"Darling can you tie my string
Killers are callin on me

My angel face is fallin
Feathers are fallin on my feet"

-Gospel
The National

Saturday, August 20, 2011

8/20/11

So what would you think of me now,
so lucky, so strong, so proud?

~Hear You Me,
Jimmy Eat World, Bleed American

Friday, August 19, 2011

8/19/11

"Cried all night until there was nothing more
What use am I as a heap on the floor?
Heaving devotion but it's just no good
Taking it hard just like you knew I would
~Sentimental Heart
She & Him, Vol 1.

Old habits die hard
When you got, when you got a sentimental heart
Piece of the puzzle and you're my missing part
Oh, what can you do with a sentimental heart?"


Who says you can't make a great song out of eight lines? All ya need.

8/19/11



I like this song, because it is a ballad in the traditional sense.

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

8/17/11

Put your trust in simple acts.
Believe in What You Want
-Jimmy Eat World, Clarity

I'm not sure how productive I was today. I'm not sure it matters. I did a lot, sure. But what was any of it for? Was it for good? Did I enjoy it? I don't know the answers to these questions. But, you needn't do so.

Sunday, August 14, 2011

8/14/11

The wheels are heating up to a bend
Gasoline is leaking out like sin
It's been weld together with my dirty hands
Dressed and ready for the party to begin
I am ready to wait until it begins

I'm curving as I cannonball ahead
Oh I know I can't go on like that
So I'll go straight to bed
and then onto the next

I was young when I grew thorns
Got ripped up from the ground

And I have burned my body so thin

I am ready to wait until it begins
I am ready to wait until it begins
I am ready to wait until it begins
I am ready to wait until it begins

~Cannonball
Cassino, Kingprince

It almost scares me how gorgeous this song is. Like, how does a group of people decide to make something so dead-on?

Friday, August 12, 2011

8/12/11



This song does good things for the world. I've found that there's a lot of Explosions In The Sky-esque bands (who may or may not have come before them, I have no idea) that all sound EXACTLY THE SAME, like to the point where I hear it on Pandora and say, oh this must be EITS, and I am wrong.

This on the other hand, has it's own flavor. And it is good.

Monday, August 8, 2011

8/8/11

This habit of waking up early, listening to music and writing, it's very beneficial. Why don't we get the hard part of the day over with first?

8/8/11



This summer is defined by Cold Roses, and driving down Route 96 to avoid the thruway, and wishing the hills weren't cluttered with car dealerships. This summer is about staying put when you want to run, run, run away.

This summer is decorated with moments of looking where I shouldn't, and remaining unable to keep my hands to myself. This summer is not for improvement, this summer is not for self-empowerment, it is for the best and worst of me, celebrating each other for the first time.

I haven't given up pen chewing, or nail-biting, or car-singing to no one. Or justifying my more vocal human feelings with the words of others when mine just won't do.

I wanna be the bluebird singing
Singing to the roses in her yard
Roses in her yard her father grew for her
It's been raining like Tennessee honey
So long I got too heavy to fly

Ain't no bluebird ever gets too heavy to sing

Lie to me
Sing me a song
Sing me a song until the morning comes
And if the morning don't come, will you lie to me
Will you take me to your bed
Will you lay me down
Ti'l I'm heavy like the rocks in the riverbed
That my savior made

~Magnolia Mountain,
Ryan Adams and the Cardinals, Cold Roses

Saturday, August 6, 2011

8/6/11

I have trouble accepting the fact this song is 10 years old, when it feels so present for me. Music transcends, in case you didn't know.




"Build your own television receiver
Staying home can't be that bad for me
Because I'm not scared, but I'd like some extra spare time
Easily earn me big money
I'm a modern girl, but I fold in half so easily
When I put myself in the picture of success
I could learn world trade or try to map the ocean

When you're dead, in hospitals and freeways
When you're dead, in resting homes and clinics
When you're dead, it must be nice to finish
When you're dead


I've had it with you, and Mexico can fucking wait
And all of those French films about trains
Because I'm not scared, but I'd like some extra spare time
I'm not scared, but the bills keep changing colors

When you're dead, in hopsitals and freeways
When you're dead, in dress shirts and neck ties
When you're dead, in apartments and on beaches
When you're dead

They say California is a recipe for a black hole
And I say I've got my best shoes on, I'm ready to go
Ready to go, ready to go, I'm ready to go
Ready to go, ready to go, I'm ready to go

These are times that can't be weathered
And we have never been back there since then
"

~Picture of Success
Rilo Kiley, Take Offs and Landings

Sunday, July 31, 2011

7/31/11

Tori's a little crazy, and thus, I relate.



i don't need much to keep warm and
don't stop now what you're doing
what you're doing, my ugly one
bring them all here
hard to hide a hundred girls in your hair
it won't be fair
if i hate her
if i ate her
you can go now
you can go now

you're already in there
i'll be wearing your tattoo
you're already in there

got a cloud sleeping on my tongue
here goes and it goes and
kiss the violets as they're waking up
leave me with your borneo i said
leave me
the way i was before
but
you're already in there
i'll be wearing your tattoo
i'm already in
circles and circles and circles again
the girl's in circles and circles and circles again
~cloud on my tongue
tori amos, under the pink

Thursday, July 21, 2011

7/21/11

Don't call it a theme song.



"I was staring at the sky, just looking for a star
To pray on, or wish on, or something like that
I was having a sweet fix of a daydream of a boy
Whose reality I knew, was a hopeless to be had
But then the dove of hope began its downward slope
And I believed for a moment that my chances
Were approaching to be grabbed
But as it came down near, so did a weary tear
I thought it was a bird, but it was just a paper bag

Hunger hurts, and I want him so bad, oh it kills
'Cause I know I'm a mess he don't wanna clean up
I got to fold 'cause these hands are too shaky to hold
Hunger hurts, but starving works, when it costs too much to love

And I went crazy again today, looking for a strand to climb
Looking for a little hope
Baby said he couldn't stay, wouldn't put his lips to mine,
And a fail to kiss is a fail to cope
I said, 'Honey, I don't feel so good, don't feel justified
Come on put a little love here in my void,' he said
'It's all in your head,' and I said, 'So's everything'
But he didn't get it I thought he was a man
But he was just a little boy

Hunger hurts, and I want him so bad, oh it kills
'Cause I know I'm a mess he don't wanna clean up

I got to fold 'cause these hands are too shaky to hold
Hunger hurts, but starving works, when it costs too much to love."
~Paper Bag
Fiona Apple, When the Pawn

Monday, July 18, 2011

7/18/11

So I love this song, but it was always a little on the twangy side, the album version at least.
This setting is new to me, and beautiful. The intro is pretty great, too.



"Loaded like a sailor
Tumbling off a ferry boat
I was at the bar till three
Oh Lord, and I wasn't ready to go
I'm never ready to go
Tennessee's a brother to my sister Carolina where they're gonna bury me
And I ain't ready to go
I'm never ready to go
Let it ride let it ride easy down the road
Let it ride
Let it take away all of this darkness
Let it ride
Let it rock me in the arms of stranger's angels until it brings me home
Let it ride
Let it roll
Let it go"

~Let it Ride
Ryan Adam, Ryan Adams and the Cardinals

7/18/11

Trying to learn this song tonight. I cower/bask before the greatness of Nolan performance.



"Cause after this mess
I guess you'd bet
That I'd collapse before you do
Well maybe that's true
Or maybe, it's not at all"

~Your Name Here, Sunrise Highway,
Straylight Run, Straylight Run

7/17/11

Today was a wonderful day. And I got home and listened to all kinds of wonderful music. And this song kind of closed it for me in some way. A good, sad way.

"I went down to the gas station
for no particular reason
Heard the screams from the high school
It's football season

Empty lot the station faces
Will probably be there forever
I climbed over the four foot fence
I was trying to sever the tether

Moon in the sky
Cold as a stone
Spend each night in your arms
Always wake up alone

I lay down in the weeds
It was a real cold night
I was happy 'til the overnight attendant
Switched on the floodlight

Walking home I was talking to you under my breath
Saying things I would never say directly
I heard a siren on the highway up ahead
Kinda wished they'd come and get me

Frost on the sidewalk
White as a bone
Tried to get close to you again
Always wake up alone

And as I was crossing our doorstep
I hesitated just a moment there
Remembered the day we moved in to our small house
'til the vision got too vivid to bear

You were almost asleep
Halfway undressed
I lay right down next to you
held your head against my chest

And a guy with any kind of courage
would maybe stop to think the matter through
Maybe hold you still and raise the question
Instead of blindly holding onto you

But we crank up the heat
And you giggle and moan
Spend all night in the company of ghosts
Aways wake up alone"
~Moon over Goldsboro
The Mountain Goats, Get Lonely



Strings are damn gorgeous. Sparing. Long, story ballad-like structure. I am a fan.

Sunday, July 10, 2011

7/10/11



This song feels so damn good. I'm still getting used to the album, the first two tracks and the last are my favorites so far and a couple others, like "Siren" are good. I still really enjoy "Reach for the Sun."

EDIT: After a few more listens, I feel this will grow equal in time.

But the structure of "War Paint," the song, is really well done. The opening chords are great and loud and majestic and full and they hit with you a great verse and chorus before bringing everything down and letting it all sink in. Some of that desperate fighting spirit stuff. It's a good time.

Lyrically, you don't hear bands this honest too often. Which is a shame in some ways. But we don't live in hones times and it makes it twice as hard. So give me the metaphors of breathing and escape and suns and wars and something I can relate to, because it's evident that these songs are written with nothing but hearts and minds behind them.

This band does a great job at capturing frustration in suspension, and hope in resonance. I could see how someone could very easily underestimate them as another now-scene band (are we in a scene? is there still one? who is in it? I don't understand anything anymore) upon first listen. But I hear more patience and care in this band than just being loud. Cause when it comes down to it, you gotta think a song through, and it needs all those right little details/sounds/words, that make it just right.

"I was starting to shake
From the days I’ve been up
There’s a lot on my plate
And the ones I loved stopped answering
They left me to find my self
In my own hate
I work all alone with cynical taste
And the day I get out
Is the day I’ll be made
I was cut out of stone
And carved with a blade.
Head down with all of my hardships
There’s nothing too strong
That I can't face
Don’t stop ‘till you finally have it
It should be more like a habit

Come down
All the fighting’s over
I let you breathe your own air
I will set my arms down in a corner
When I turn around
You will tell me how you’re up now
From your dream of clovers
Said, 'not a thing will compare
To the sense you give me, and disorder
When you turn around
And i can’t breathe.'
There wasn’t a trace
Of the war letting up
And the days went on late
I struggled
And I fell to solid ground
It led me to my escape
Now here I am outside of your gate
I was hoping you could
Come down
All the fighting’s over
I let you breathe your own air
I will set my arms down in a corner
When I turn around
You will tell me how you’re up now
From your dream of clovers
Said, 'not a thing will compare
To the sense you give me, and disorder
When you turn around
And I can’t breathe.'
Well, I came to say sorry
I shouldn’t have left
But my bitterness got to me
Before you did
And now I’m laying in gardens
Where we start over again
I know that you got me
And this is it
Come down
All the fighting’s over
I let you breathe your own air
I will set my arms down in a corner
When I turn around
You will tell me how you’re up now
From your dream of clovers
Said, 'not a thing will compare
To the sense you give me, and disorder
When you turn around
And I can’t breathe.'
"

~War Paint
The Dangerous Summer, War Paint

Friday, July 8, 2011

7/8/11

Dangerous Summer.War Paint. All day. Win.

"I don't want to hear it,
I've seen soul in every little feeling you fought,
and maybe it's enough to move us on from where we started off."

~Waves
The Dangerous Summer, War Paint

7/8/11

Funny how people can make you sick to your stomach, but music, made by people, makes you better.

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

6/28/11



All these things about me you never can tell.
You make me sleep so badly, invisible friend
Turn the dial on my words
I can feel them fall short
Turn the dial, chime alarm, chime alarm
Watch these falls move apart
Turn the dial on my words
~Whirring
The Joy Formidable, The Big Roar

This band's a lil too cool for me. Serious sound for a three-piece, and they're Welch.

Sunday, June 26, 2011

6/26/11

I'm pretty certain that the past few weeks have been the type where if I didn't have music to listen to and obsess over, I would probably drive myself insane.



"Well I don't know where you're going
but I know where you've been.
I've been tracing all your footsteps,
I've been counting all your sins.
A ticking bomb, a false alarm, a wrecking ball
You left before I had the chance to say
Just call me in the morning.
Call me when you're home.
I know what you've been through, don't let go.
Don't let go.

Well you reached into my mouth
and pulled out a single bloody tooth.
I've never shown that to anyone.
Yeah no one knows but you.
A ticking bomb, a false alarm, a wrecking ball
I left before you had the chance to say
Just call me in the morning.
Call me when you're home.
I know what you've been through, don't let go.
Honey don't let go.

You never knew that it would take so long
to understand you're right where you belong.

I don't know where were going
but I know where we've been.
We've been hiding from each other,
we've been hiding from our sins.

Call me in the morning.
Call me when you're home.
I know what you've been through, don't let go.
Call me in the morning.
Call me when you're home.
I know what you've been through, don't let go

Don't know where we're going
But I know where we've been
we've been hiding from each other
we've been hiding from our sins.

Call me when you're home.
I know what you've been through, don't let go."

~Call me in the morning
Taking Back Sunday, Taking Back Sunday

This song isn't overly complicated. It's got nice subtlety that I don't necessarily except from TBS, the drum swells and stuff, which is great. Killer to hear John and Adam singing together again - the harmonies on this record are sick, even better than "Tell All Your Friends." Their furthered experience shows on this album in every track.

I'm really excited about this album overall. I think it's a great addition to what they do. Some tracks - say, the dreaded "Money," aren't too great or anything to be that impressed by. But I'm loving it - "Who Are You Anyway?," "Sad Savior," "It Doesn't Feel a Thing Like Falling" are also standouts. "El Paso" is as good a track one as "You Know How I Do" but it's showing off a totally other side of their sound.

This song isn't overly complicated lyrically, either. But it gets the point across, I think. Feels good this afternoon. Among these complicated situations, doubt and worry, confusion and concern it's good to hear something that's new yet familiar.

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

6/21/11

My theory that computer-chosen music has a way of reading our minds continues to be proven — Good Riddance by Green Day and I Miss You by Blink-182 just came on one after another on Pandora, as I sit here trying to dissect myself from yet one more thing in my life that I thought I knew.

Don't waste your time on me
you're already the voice inside my head

~I Miss You
Blink-182, Blink-182

Monday, June 13, 2011

6/13/11

Woke up too early this morning.
Have listened to the entirety of "Cold Roses."
Amazing idea.

Sunday, June 12, 2011

6/12/11

This song is probably in my top 5 of songs that can completely still me and bring me to very certain place. It's brilliant. I wish I knew what all the sounds were in it, what they did to get those slow, drone-like builds, because it's quite beautiful and I can't necessarily identify all of it.



Do you really think you can just put in a safe behind a painting,
lock it up, and leave?
Walk away now,
And you're gonna start a war.

~Start a War
The National, Boxer

Saturday, June 11, 2011

6/11/11

There's a lot of kinds of music. There's music that makes you happy or sad, or takes away pain. Music that induces it, like a memory slapping across your face.

It's somehow validating, I think that's why we all like it so much. Like if there's some sort of manifestation of what we feel inside somewhere out there, maybe it's okay. Maybe we're not doing anything wrong. Comforting.

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

6/8/11

Edit:
I don't care what people say about this album. I think it's pretty great.

"Cotton candy and a rotten mouth
You know you're so fucked up
You know I couldn't help but have it for you

And everybody knows the way I walk
And knows the way I talk
And knows the way I feel about you
It's all a bunch of shit
And there's nothing to do around here
It's totally fucked up
I'm totally fucked up
Wish you were here

And streets that only turn to boulevards
And houses with back yards
and it's raining like hell on the cars
And everybody knows the way I walk
And knows the way I talk
Knows the way I feel about you
It's all a bunch of shit
And there's nothing to do around here
It's totally fucked
I'm totally fucked
Wish you were here

And if I could have my way
We'd take some drugs
And we'd smile
We'd smile
We'd smile
But not tonight, my dear
Wish you were here"


~Wish You Were Here
Ryan Adams, Rock n Roll

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

6/7/11

I have a new obsession,and they're called The Dangerous Summer. It is my understanding they have a 2011 release that is coming up soon, so I'm catching up with "Reach for the Sun." Which is awesome. Kind of reminds me of Gratitude (who I am now going to Pandora).



"Am I wrong, or is this really what you want to happen?
When all I want to do is have this, I'm not strong enough to stand.
'Cause I've been pushed around before.
I felt the burn from every inch of my heart,
but it's worth it to never feel alone."

~Never Feel Alone
The Dangerous Summer, Reach For the Sun

Friday, June 3, 2011

6/3/11

Mmmmm live Avett Brothers...lovin the harmonies, and the guy with the cello kind of makes it. Although I don't know if he himself is an Avett brother?

In any case, excellent performance.



There was a dream and one day I could see it
Like a bird in a cage I broke in and demanded that somebody free it
~Head Full of Doubt/Road Full of Promise
The Avett Brothers, I and Love and You

6/2/11

Tonight I sang "Sweetness" at open mic night. And it felt fucking great.

What a dizzy dance,
No the sweetness will not be concerned with me.
~Sweetness
Jimmy Eat World, Jimmy Eat World

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

6/1/11

I really despise the look of this video, but this song always comes up on my Pandora. So fun to sing - it's super sad but super not?

And, it has a mandolin.



The sharp knife of a short life,
Well I've had just enough time.
~If I Die Young
The Band Perry

Monday, May 9, 2011

5/9/11



"You have my attention
Like you’ve had all the while
Since that first day when you made my heart smile
With loving eyes and tired sighs that flow
You have my attention
Like a shout through an empty sanctuary
Speak but a whisper
I’ll hear a sermon"
~You Have My Attention
Copeland, In Motion

Sunday, May 1, 2011

5/1/11

I've been on a huge Ryan Adams kick lately. So fantastic.



"And I hold you close in the back of my mind
Feels so good but damn it makes me hurt
And I'm too scared to know to how I feel about you now
La Cienega just smiles..."see ya around""
~La Cienga Just Smiled
Ryan Adams, Gold

Friday, April 22, 2011

4/22/11

Pandora, you rule.



"Yes indeed I'm alone again
and here comes emptiness crashing in
it's either love or hate
I can't find in between
cause I've been with witches
and I have been with a queen


it wouldn't have worked out any way
so now it's just another lonely day
further along we just may
but for now it's just another lonely day



wish there was something
I could say or do
I can resist anything
but temptation from you
but I'd rather walk alone
than chase you around
I'd rather fall myself
than let you drag me down



it wouldn't have worked out any way
and now it's just another lonely day
further along we just may
but for now it's just another lonely day


yesterday seems like a life ago
cause the one I love
today I hardly know
you I held so close in my heart oh dear
grow further from me
with every falling tear



it wouldn't have worked out any way
so now it's just another lonely day
further along we just may
but for now it's just another lonely day"
~Another Lonely Day,
Ben Harper, Fight For Your Mind

Friday, April 15, 2011

4/15/11

I don't want to go home.

New find. How come music from Canada always sounds like something I want to hear in a bar, while making sad eyes across the room with a sad stranger? And dim lighting. And Coors light.




"If ever you want to
See how much I want you
I’ll give you everything
If ever you need to
See how much I need you too
Tell me that you think about me
Thinking of you
Wondering just how much I love you
I will show you once you let me through

If ever you seem to
Admit that you need me too
I’ll hang on every word
If ever you start to
See how slowly you’re killing me
And how deep a man can hurt
I’m falling further under every spell
You’ve put me under
Don’t release me
Make me cry for you

Cause' every time you do
I don’t want to go home
I don't want to go home
I don't want to go home
Alone"

~I Don't Want To Go Home,
Todd Hunter Band

Thursday, April 7, 2011

4/7/11

Chilling song of the day, as well as week and month, perhaps -- must find more covers from Taylor:



Can you lie next to her and give her your heart, your heart?
As well as your body, and can you lie next to her and confess your love, your love?
As well as your folly and can you kneel before the king and say ‘I’m clean’, ‘I’m clean’?
But tell me now where was my fault, in loving you with my whole heart?
But tell me now where was my fault, in loving you with my whole heart?


Her white blank page & a swelling rage, rage
You did not think when you sent me to the brink, the brink
You desired my attention but denied my affections, affections

Tell me now where was my fault, in loving you with my whole heart
Tell me now where was my fault, in loving you with my whole heart

Lead my to the truth and I will follow you with my whole life
Lead my to the truth and I will follow you with my whole life

White Blank Page, Mumford and Sons
Mumford and Sons

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Saturday, March 12, 2011

3/12/11

We may make it through the war if we make it through the night.
~People Say, Portugal the Man

Underrated band. I am not as familiar with their work as I would like to be, but they remind me of a blend of the best parts of O.A.R. without the popped collars.

Thursday, March 10, 2011

3/10/11

The softer side of Ryan Adams --- don't know how I feel about the video, since it's not the real video from the song, but woke up with this song in my head:

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Friday, February 11, 2011

2/11/10

Love.

2/11/11

There's something about the guilty.....the thing you know is too average to want, not special enough, not indie enough, but still....soo.....damn....perfect.
Enter Marianas Trench. Can't really describe it other than insanely listen-able. And to listen, is to enter an honest and driven-tempo world, with harmonies to hell and back, and tambourines in the chorus just like my lil heart likes it.

Sure, it's cheesy, and a lot of their fans might love Selena Gomez, but I freakin' love 'em. Since Januaryish they've been in my rotation, and I like some songs a LOT more than others, but those songs are pretty awesome.

The album itself is very theme-y, and group-vocal oriented in a Queen or Beach Boys kind of way.

In criticism land, the vocals do get on my nerves sometimes and are too all over the place for me to feel really respectful of -- even versatility needs boundaries, I think, for greatness to really show - but some tunes are so damn succinct I can't help but love them.

I'm under the gun, you're like the only one.
I just can't decide what I'm running from.
This isn't what I wanted, but
I can't keep my filthy fucking mouth shut.

It's not enough, it's never enough.
And I wish I could breathe without getting it stuck
Can't focus it, but I try it
over and over again.

Did you say "please just follow me?"
I thought you wanted me.
Cause I want you all to myself.
I can try to suck it up,
I just can't suck it up.
Make me feel like someone else
~All to Myself

Marianas Trench, Masterpiece Theater

Sunday, February 6, 2011

2/6/11

Bad Books continues to be amazing, and so does EP Part III.

"Crooked days come bundled up in bunches
They break your brain like a branch
And push you out here asking after for something
you should know I don’t have

If I had it you wouldn’t have to ask
If I had it you wouldn’t have to ask

Later on when you bargain with your mirror
and you ask is it really that bad

If it wasn’t you wouldn’t have to ask
If it wasn’t you wouldn’t have to ask

How could you know if you didn’t?
What’s left to say when your tongue’s turned to ash?
Well I tell you you’re finally forgiven
So you wouldn’t have to ask

Shoot what’s left, slip inside your sinner smile
Another man in a mask

If you faced it you wouldn’t need a mask
If you meant it you wouldn’t need a mask
If I could fix you you wouldn’t have to ask
If I could help you you wouldn’t have to ask"
-You Wouldn't Have to Ask
Bad Books,Bad Books

Friday, February 4, 2011

2/4/11

I sang "A Long December" by Counting Crows at open mic tonight (last night? I'm awake, so it's still tonight to me). It felt pretty great, and my friends liked it. I sat on a stool and shook my feet the whole time, and only messed up a little.

Might try some Brand New next week. We'll see.

Thursday, January 27, 2011

1/27/11

Can we talk about Bad Books for a second? Andy Hull + Kevin Devine = wonderful collaboration. Still swallowing the album, only heard a few tracks yet, but I like.

It seems more poppy than Manchester Orchestra, and I'm not (sadly) too familiar with Devine's catalog save for a few songs, but I know he's a pretty well-known dude.

1/27/11

Good morning, with new Lovedrug.

Okay, it's not morning. But it's my first day off in forever, and I slept in.


Friday, January 21, 2011

1/21/11

It's been a long time since I've devoted some real attention to my blog, and all I can think of is that I never knew Foo Fighters covered "Band on the Run" till I heard it on the radio today. And it was actually pretty awesome.

Friday, January 14, 2011

1/14/10

Crush + Little thing on shuffle = heart in pieces, in a good way

Just because things change doesn't mean they don't stay the same -- it's why the same stuff gets you, I think.

Saturday, January 8, 2011

1/8/11



"And Sally said, Sally said.
I can't take no more regret.
It cut us deep, into our souls.
Came and climbed into our bed.
And Sally said, Sally said.
Meet me by the River's edge.
We're going to wash these sins away.
Or else we won't come back again.

You know I had these ballroom dreams.
That, as a child, came to me.
I was a boy in Grandma's arms.
A mother's pride and a wounded heart.
And I was full with fiery wonder.
You wore Audrey Hepburn pearls.
You were the only one who understood me then and the only one who will.
"
~Meet me by the river's edge,
The Gaslight Anthem, The '59 Sound


Maybe one of my top 5 TGA songs....does a wonderful job capturing the rush of desperation, the get-out-of-this-town yearning that makes you need to run.