Monday, December 17, 2012

12/17/12



"Cause I feel just like a map,
Without a single place to go of interest,
And I'm further North than South,
If I could shut my mouth she'd probably like this.
So buy a pretty dress,
And wear it out tonight,
For all the boys you think could out do me,
Or better still, be my winding wheel

~My Winding Wheel
Ryan Adams, Heartbreaker

Sunday, December 16, 2012

12/16/13

Simon and Garfunkel's "Live from New York City, 1967" continues to be the most enjoyable textbook.



"Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit.
Blessed is the lamb whose blood flows.
Blessed are the sat upon, Spat upon, Ratted on,
O Lord, Why have you forsaken me?
I got no place to go,
I've walked around Soho for the last night or so.
Ah, but it doesn't matter, no.

Blessed is the land and the kingdom.
Blessed is the man whose soul belongs to.
Blessed are the meth drinkers, Pot sellers, Illusion dwellers.
O Lord, Why have you forsaken me?
My words trickle down, like a wound
That I have no intention to heal.

Blessed are the stained glass, window pane glass.
Blessed is the church service makes me nervous
Blessed are the penny rookers, Cheap hookers, Groovy lookers.
O Lord, Why have you forsaken me?
I have tended my own garden
Much too long."
~Blessed 
Simon and Garfunkel, Live from New York City, 1967


From the off-kilter opening notes to the harmonies and dynamics, from the biblical undertones to the dirty city setting, this song perfectly captures aloneness. It's dark and brooding from the instrumentation right off the bat, then, listening closely, you realize it's critical, angry, not inward but outwardly. An aggressive emotional to voice so delicately, in a song that is ultimately patient.  

The transitions are really smooth, I like 60s folk for this reason. That's all in structure. And how refreshing to hear acoustic dynamics, stripped down and unafraid to be extreme, after all the laptop-stuff we're bombarded with.

I can't help but feel like music with an intermediary, a laptop or record player or whatever, has less of a connection than an instrument. Don't tell me "the laptop is the instrument," because I'm pretty sure those samples sound - gasp! - like instruments that someone else could play. Or something too distorted to be on an actual instrument, and these sounds, I think, do not have the same emotional transcendental tendencies as an actual instrument.

(Here I am thinking of "Yellow Scream," that guy who screams and paints. I feel like that guy sometimes. Did it make a difference in the end result, all that screaming? Maybe. Maybe not. Art.) 

I know I'm still totally harping on this record, but it is a perfect example of how performance, a concert, should tell a story, open up some doors into a time and place and cultural and mood. It's clear in the reactions. I am sure this art is still practiced, I do not know how much it plays into our mainstream anymore (if it ever truly did?). What I do know is so much of our stories are already shared, via you, lovely Interwebz, that I don't know how in-demand such in person experiences are. Maybe I just need to go to a Fleet Foxes show, they might have this aspect down.

Sing to me about burning churches, about citywide loneliness, give me something completely stripped down and unadorned except for the story, don't decorate to distract, but only to enhance where enhancement deemed necessary.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CyDJFMojIoA

"A church is burningThe flames rise higher
Like hands that are praying
They grow in the sky
Like hands that are praying
The fire ascends
You can burn down my churches
But I shall be free

Three hooded men through the back roads did creep
Torches in their hands while the village lies asleep
Down to the church where, just hours before
Voices were singing, and
Hands were meeting, and
Saying, "I won't be a slave anymore"


A church is burning
The flames rise higher
Like hands that are praying
They glow in the sky

Like hands that are praying
The fire ascends
You can burn down my churches
But I shall be free


Three hooded men, their hands lit the spark
And they faded in the night, they vanished in the dark
And in the cold light of morning, there was nothing that remained
But the ashes of a Bible and a can of kerosene

A church is burning
The flames rise higher
Like hands that are praying
They glow in the sky
Like hands that are prayin'
The fire ascends
You can burn down my churches
But I shall be free

A church is more than just timber and stone
And freedom is a dark road when you're walking it aloneBut the future is now, and it's time to take a stand
So the lost bells of freedom can ring out in my land

A church is burning
The flames rise higher
Like hands that are praying
They glow in the sky
Like hands that are praying
The fire ascends
You can burn down my churches
But I shall be free"

~The Church is Burning
Simon and Garfunkel, Live from New York City, 1967




PS: In today's branded-to-the-nines times, there is no escaping the trends. Just last night I played Passion Pit on those kind of awkward but awesome digital jukeboxes, and I think I interrupted someone else's choices, because Bro immediately walked over and said "What's this Apple commercial shit?" and I laughed and put on metric. This was useless aside. 

Friday, December 14, 2012

12/13/12




"Come gather 'round people wherever you roam/And admit that the waters around you have grown/And accept it that soon you'll be drenched to the bone/If your time to you is worth savin'/So you better start swimming or you'll sink like a stone /or the times, they are a-chang - in'/Come writers and critics who prophecies with your pen/And keep your eyes wide, the chance won't come again/And don't speak too soon for the wheel's still in spin/And there's no tellin' who that it's namin'/For the times they are a-changin'/Come senators, congressmen please heed the call/Don't stand in the doorway, don't block up the hall/For he that gets hurt will be he who has stalled/The battle outside ragin'/Will soon shake your windows and rattle your walls/For the times they are a-changin'/Come mothers and fathers throughout the land/And don't criticize what you don't understand/Your sons and your daughters are beyond your command/Your old road is rapidly agin'/Please get out of the new one if you can't lend a hand/For the times they are a-changin'/The line it is drawn the curse it is cast/The slow one now will later be fast/As the present now will later be past The order is rapidly fadin'/And the first one now will later be last/For the times they are a-changin.'"
~The Times They are A-changin'

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

12/12/12

I swear, this album gives me super powers of concentration.  It's uplifting, in that connect-to-the-music-of-the-spheres kind of way, but rooted in indie folk and alt-country.



Lots of strumming guitars, lots of ghostly harmonies, something very peaceful and pensive about it that makes you want to be in a forever-green forest, nothing but dirt and bark and leaves and rivers to see and touch and smell. See the title track for evidence of this theme.

Songs show a penchant for long and windy song structures that make for wonderful ballads no matter the speed, but the kind with several verse phrasings before the real chorus, an ambling melodic structure perfect for driving, campfires, unwinding.  Funny, then, that I've found such solace in listening to it so close to so many screens.

This song, "She Lit a Fire," in particular has played on loop on my both my computers and in my head. It probably has the most single-appeal, potentially with the Fleet Foxes or Band of Horses fan bases.

While some could call out "Lonesome Dreams" for not showing the most variety, every track shows really rich, wonderful composition, in terms of layers. It's not an album that plays through a host of emotions or themes, but it totally doesn't need to, because there's so much going on inside the emotions and themes it's already introduced. There's loneliness, there's hopes, there's nostalgia and romance. There's flutes, claps and bells, there's harmonicas, xylophones, a million kinds of shakers, even bird calls. It's amazing, if it was all recorded live. If it was done through the magic of ProTools, well, it's still quite a landscape to realize and I would understand it. All depends on how much gets put into the live performance, I guess.

The standout track that sold me was "Lullaby," a song as classically sad and sweet as you'd ever want to hear that you don't much expect to anymore (even though you still should).

"I've been through the desert
And I've been across the sea
I've been walking through the mountains
I've wandered through the trees
For her

I have been trying to find her
Want to give what I got
She lit a fire
But now she's in my every thought


Where, could that girl have gone
Where, I've wandered far
Where, could that girl have gone
She left no trail but I cannot fail
I will find her

She lit a fire
But now she's in my every thought
She lit a fire
But now she's in my every thought

Where, could that girl have gone
Where, I've wandered far
Where, could that girl have gone
She left no trace but I know her face
I will find her

When last I saw her she was dancing all alone
Perhaps my chance was then, I'll never know
I'll search the world until there's no place left to go
And if she leaves it, I will follow
Yes I will follow


She lit a fire
But now she's in my every thought
She lit a fire
But now she's in my every thought

I've been through the desert
And I've been across the sea
I've been walking through the mountains
I've wandered through the trees
For her

I have been trying to find her
Want to give what I got
She lit a fire
But now she's in my every thought"

~She Lit a Fire
Lord Huron, Lonesome Dreams

Friday, December 7, 2012

12/7/12


"Everybody sing like it’s the last song you will ever sing...
Tell me, tell me, do you feel the pressure now?
Everybody live like it’s the last day you will ever see...
Tell me, tell me, do you feel the pressure now?"
~Born For This 
Paramore, Riot!

Yes, yes, I'll get around to a "Best of 2012." But before I get all nostalgic, I'm looking forward to the future (foroncemaybeeverorinareallylongtime).

Next we're getting albums from *at least* two great bands - Jimmy Eat World and Paramore. I am very, very excited for both these albums. Been following JEW's recording process via Facebook (which I'll wax on about at some point, I'm sure) but just found out about Paramore today and I'm pretty stoked. For some reason, that was the news I needed to hear today (then I went home and learned "Turn it Off" acoustic).

"Brand New Eyes" was an amazing rock album and if you don't agree, you and I don't agree about what makes good rock music. I played the shit out of that record as a senior in college even if it was supposed to be for Hot Topic kids. The prowess of Hayley Williams is literally unparalleled from a female vocalist/lyricist in the last five years, in terms of technique, style, attitude, musicality and originality. She continually grows on me. The band, in the past, has been fucking solid as hell, incredible key changes and grunge-inspired riffs...they've definitely moved on from emo-land into a more polished sound over their LP catalog thus far....but, you see, half the band left after "Brand New Eyes." I'm having a hard time figuring out how this will change their sound (Hayley and Josh wrote most of the songs, as far as I know, and he is now gone). But change can be good for bands, sometimes it brings out the best that was being held back, and they've got one hell of a drummer lined up, so I'm guessing this upcoming self-titled is going to be pretty luxe.

I love that it's a self-titled despite the lineup change. To me, that says, "Hey, we're here, haven't failed yet, so why stop?" And, truly, Paramore songs are so redemptive, above almost anything else. After all that, I can hardly think they will fall flat because they have a new iteration. Bands do that all the time, really, and while it can result in low points (like that Asia record without Steve) it can be fruitful in terms of experimentation and/or audience expansion.

I do remember when I first heard "All We Know Is Falling" and was completely blown away. I think I was pretty jealous, actually, I was all "Why don't I front a cool rock band?!?!" (probably because I'm not nearly as talented and am pretty much seem to be a career out of being a writerly chameleon rather than a traveling troubadour. Shit, you may even find traces of that on this blog, hell if I know). Beyond that, though, I related intimately to the songs, they resonated perfectly and harmoniously with my restless heart and wandering head, body parts aching to be somewhere else other than where they were even though that was all they knew. It soundtracked a couple pretty poignant moments, if I recall. I remember thinking "Yeah, this band is cool. I hope they're successful. Sounds like they get it."

Looking at their success today, I'd say yeah, I think they do.

This song, in particular, makes me realize how fast the last eight years or so have gone, and yet,  how many lifetimes have passed between them. Shit, I am feeling very old all of a sudden:

"And when we get home, I know we won't be home at all
This place we live, it is not where we belong
And I miss who we were in the town that we could call our own
Going back to get away after everything has changed

Could you remind me of a time when we were so alive?
Do you remember that? Do you remember that?
Everything has changed...
Could you help me push aside all that I have left behind?
Everything has changed
Do you remember that? Do you remember that?"
~Franklin
Paramore, All We Know Is Falling

Given the pop/mainstream attention they've received, the 2013 iteration of Paramore will receive heavy attention from the usuals on the Interwebz in 2013 (and I'll probably click lots, sure). I don't want the band to turn into something that just supports Hayley Williams, because I like band dynamics more than solo act dynamics as a writer/listener/thinker, but honestly, I like her enough that I will continue to at least check out what she produces and see how it feels. My gut tells me it will feel great. There's a strong chance this will be the best Paramore record yet, if you're the type of person who believes change can set you free.

I'm really excited about music from 2012, but also for what will arrive in 2013. In the meantime, it is day-by-day, it is moment-by-moment, and it is as breathless, restless, contemplative and cutthroat as its always been.

Hey, I'm here, haven't failed yet, so why stop?



"I settled down a twisted up frown
Disguised as a smile, well,
You would have never known.
I had it all,
But, not what I wanted,
'cause hope for me was a place uncharted and overgrown


You'd make your way in,
I'd resist you just like this.
You can't tell me to feel,
The truth never set me free,
So, I did it myself...

You can't be too careful anymore
When all that is waiting for you
Won't come any closer...
You've got to reach out a little more...

Open your eyes
Like I opened mine
It's only the real world,
A life you will never know.

Shifting your weight
To throw off the pain
Well you can ignore it but only for so long...

You look like I did,
You resist me just like this.
You can't tell me to heal,
And it hurts remembering
How it felt to shut down.

You can't be too careful anymore
When all that is waiting for you
Won't come any closer...
You've got to reach out a little more...

The truth never set me free,
The truth never set me free,
The truth never set me free,
So, I'll do it myself..."
~Careful
Paramore, Brand New Eyes

Wednesday, December 5, 2012

12/5/12


"Honey we came to dance with the girls with the stars in their eyes..."
~We Came to Dance
The Gaslight Anthem, Sink or Swim

I saw Gaslight Anthem last night in D.C. Well, two nights ago, technically, by the date, but just a little over 24 hours. It was everything I wanted and more. 

Venue, the 9:30 Club, got sweaty, but it was a pretty beautiful place, charming architecture with dirty floors. The audience was hip, and liked to mosh. Didn't expect that but it thrilled me. There were action figures and red candles settled on the amps, kind of felt like what the set up must've been in their Jersey garage back when. The setlist was pretty impeccable, I could've heard "When We Were Young," but they opened with "Mae" which broke my heart in just the right way. After that, a black scrim dropped down, showing a fierce bird/dragon emblem.  I really appreciate their song choices. "Handwritten" tracks sounded fresh, those guitar melodies just sliced the air and locked in a revelry as the album would have you believe. Truly impressed by the layers and precision, definitely got the feeling that touring over the last few years have given these guys a good handle on the kind of riffs that can just energize a crowd. Bass tones were solid, I couldn't see Alex Levine play too much from where I was standing and its mix wasn't too balanced from where I was standing unfortunately, but sounded good if not too intricate. Alex Rosamilia and Brian switching off on lead guitar melodies works well, they really have different feels and gear preferences that gives you a good blend of metal-inspired riffs (fastfingers!! I watched them as close as I could over the heads and iPhones) and sustained  chromatic notes that are all feel (goddamn those semi-hollows sound great, I would want one if I had money to burn and better shoulder muscles to show it off cause they're damn heavy).


"There you go, turn the key and engine over 
Let her go, let somebody else lay at her feet..." 
~45
The Gaslight Anthem, Handwritten

Dudes in the band seemed like lovable punks; think they'd make good friends if I happened to find myself friends with them. As lead vocalist and MC and de facto spokesman, Brian Fallon was not ashamed to be a jerk - calling himself a liar, and a bad friend, and yelling at some dude who said "Fuck You" after he had declared his New York Jets allegiance ("Isn't my life terrible enough?" he shouted back). He told a cool story about Bon Jovi texting him (with a great line about filling 20,000+ capacity stadiums that to me revealed a certain ambitious insecurity I immediately recognized) that could've been seen as douchy if he didn't seem like the kind of guy who didn't care if you thought he was douchey. We all hear his songs, so we know he's a sentimental old fool at the core. He didn't talk too, too much, just enough, I think, to give you a feel of who he wanted to present himself to be that night. Guy seems existential as fuck, but if he read that he'd probabyl tell you that's just my perception of him and I don't really know. You could speculate, maybe, if The Gaslight Anthem will just be Brian Fallon someday --  I'll bet his bandmates do, given the media attention he gets -- but I do not predict that in the near future because this band gives you a show, a mood, a scene, and that generally can be more profitable in many ways including the obvious financial ones.I would like to see them stay around for awhile more. As for his singing - he did what I've seen him do with live footage, tinker with the higher melodies to make them more comfortable, cause night after night that can get pretty taxing I'd imagine given how raspy his voice is a lot of the time....however, a gift for melody and counterpoint seems to work in Fallon's favor here, surprising his audience with more complex parts on even the most familiar of tunes.


"Well, I wonder which song they're gonna play when we go. 
I hope it's something quiet and minor and peaceful and slow."

~The '59 Sound
The Gaslight Anthem, The '59 Sound

Older tracks, like a personal faves "We Came to Dance" and "Drive," as well as an extended intro version of "Angry Johnny and the Radio" were rehearsed really well, obviously, to the point of reinvented solos and Brian turning his back to the audience to jam out with the long-haired bearded drummer, Benny. Benny did not seem like a super-master technician trick wise, but he was all feel, all dynamics and pocket and drive and push that really propels a lot of their song structure. "Here's Looking at You, Kid" was so good to hear, so so so so so good to hear, even though they took a break before the last verse to give Brian a minute to talk about the ex-girlfriend in the third verse.  Following a one-song acoustic break with the opener that I had missed, there were some cuts from "American Slang," including the title track that made me want to run away and do all kinds of things and see all kinds of things and have no cares in the world other than what the day might bring. Continuing that theme emotionally and musically, "Diamond Church Street Choir" was dead on with the backup vocals and all. Actually I was really impressed with how they used backup vocals overall, including those of the third guitarist, Ian. Really clear balance and really retro at times, especially in "Here Comes My Man." Love seeing simple harmony backsup in a rock band...again, retro and quite pleasing sonic-wise.



"They'll find me beat down out in the universe
Though I'll never forget where I'm from..."

~The Diamond Church Street Choir
The Gaslight Anthem, American Slang

Overall, they presented a really cohesive catalog, and message, and feel. Condensing four LPs into an hour and half show isn't the easiest task, but you can tell they've learned what tracks from past albums have real staying power and played a role in crafting their sound as it exists today. You can tell they're proud, and still having fun. Still in some shock at their fan base. Personally, I was unbelievably happy to hear so many songs I loved, get a better feel for where these songs are coming from in terms of both inspiration and persperation. 

And of course, it just made me think about how different my life would be today if I follow different dreams, if I wound up at club after club and bar after bar night after night.  



"And the only thing we know is it's getting dark and we better go
And the only thing we say are the despairs of the day, 
And if you're too tired, go to sleep, my brothers,
And if you're too tired, go to sleep, my brothers
I'm alright to drive"

~Drive 
The Gaslight Anthem, Sink or Swim

There is a lot more I could say, about these songs and how they made me feel, and how it seemed they were making a lot of other people feel -- from the toe-tappers on the mezzanine in their glasses and vests ... the youngish looking girl with a huge smile dancing her ass off to my left and the guy in front of me with the bald spot who kept turning around and looking at me out of the corner of his eye ... to the big dude in the Menzigners shirt who kept crossing back and forth though where my friends and I were standing....and I could say a whole lot abot those people who stand so fucking still at concerts I have no idea why they're even there....and what about those sweet amazing couples, hugging and swaying and kissing, so intimate admist all this ruckus? Quite interesting to me to the blonde girl sitting and nodding her head to the beat, (tour or venue crew?) so controlled and composed as she looked on from what I can best describe as a private fenced-off box stage right that I would've given a pinky toe to be sitting in. The romance, the lust, the draw, it was there in every corner no matter how disguised among the crowds of D.C.'s apparently varied population of music fans.


"Now do you blow it out come Friday night?
See if you wanna, you can find me on the hood under the moonlight
Radio, oh radio, do you believe there’s still some magic left
Somewhere inside our souls?"

~Howl
The Gaslight Anthem, Handwritten

There is a lot more I could say, about these songs and how they make me feel, about how many years I've heard this band and how that cutthroat honesty, unafraid of drama or cliche, gets me every time..a lot more I could say, but I have a sleep debt and a long, long week to shine on through. Here goes nothing, again - if there was any other takeaway from last night, it's that truly anything is possible, no matter how frightening or far-fetched.


"I've never felt so strange
Standing in the pounding rain
Thinking about what my mother once said
Maybe I should call me an ambulance"

~The Patient Ferris Wheel 
The Gaslight Anthem, The '59 Sound


Sidenote: We're going to see a lot of lists soon, it being December and all. I am a little too zonked right now (whatever that means) to process my top 10 albums of the year, but I will see that when I read quick briefs of album reviews of those I haven't encountered, it's really easy to make me not want to listen to the album, and that's if you state the obvious. Lyric excerpts are too often used as crutches. Tell me why I need to listen to this and why it is better than anything else, don't give me meeting minutes. Fuck if I know anything about music writing, though.


Wednesday, November 28, 2012

11/28/12



Love the sounds in this song, a YouTube find from earlier today that I put on repeat a few times. Something very different. Something new but nostalgic. There lots of picking on string instruments I can't identify, and brushed percussion for a real soft muffled sound. Then, a little past halfway, you get some real natural strumming melodies that took just long enough to arrive, making you realize it wasn't in the rest of the song despite the typical order of things...very inverted in that way.

Good message, too. It's so simple to say things are complicated, but it's not too tricky to drill past the surface, either. You either want something or you don't, and if you're not sure, it's probably because you're afraid of what the answer means.

"And there’s a shelf where you keep old stuff
A bottom step where we once made love
And there are words we don’t say enough, 

And there are words we don’t say enough

Like, 'Hey, what are you doing tonight?
We could share a bottle of wine if you like.'
But time takes it’s toll when we fight
Now we’re just two things that don’t move in the night


You’re really gonna hate me now, but you will see I set you free
You’re really gonna hate me now, but you will see I set you free
You’re really gonna hate me now, but you will see I set you free
You’re really gonna hate me now, but you will see I set you free

Well did you mean it? 
And if you didn't, 
why'd you say it?"
~Things That Don't Move in the Night
Edward Turner, night EP

Monday, November 26, 2012

11/27/12



So I have been all about acoustic listening the past couple days, it may have something to do with getting amazingly hooked on these live Simon and Garfunkel recordings courtesy of my mom. It's a how-to of harmonies, subtle and deep and full of perfectly contrasted counterpoint. Thinking singing any of these solo would require some melodic tampering  - they don't always sound right alone which makes me fascinated to learn how the parts were found out and written. 

The urgency in this song, it is so palpable. Then I am reminded urgency is a manmade creation. So while I'm sitting here among crazy amounts of notebooks and Word documents fretting over where to begin and what to put in and what to leave out and why should I even bother when I am simultaneously figuring out how to sustain the part of my life that I am fortunate enough to get paid for, all I want to do is play my guitar and figure out how to sing all these songs though really I should just remind myself there's only so many hours in a day, a week, a life, to accomplish all these many things and brain cells need rest when you've been siphoning them every which way you possibly can and oh god I think I just need a dreamless, soundless sleep. 

"Time,time,time, see what's become of me
While I looked around for my possibilities.

I was so hard to please.
Look around,
Leaves are brown,
And the sky is a hazy shade of winter.

Hear the Salvation Army band.
Down by the riverside's
Bound to be a better ride
Than what you've got planned.

Carry your cup in your hand.
And look around.
Leaves are brown now
And the sky is a hazy shade of winter.

Hang on to your hopes, my friend.
That's an easy thing to say,
But if your hopes should pass away
Simply pretend that you can build them again.

Look around you,
The grass is high,
The fields are ripe,
It's the springtime of my life...

Seasons change with the scenery;
Weaving time in a tapestry.
Won't you stop and remember me
At any convenient time?

Funny how my memory skips
Looking over manuscripts of unpublished rhyme.
Drinking my vodka and lime,
I look around,
Leaves are brown now
And the sky is a hazy shade of winter.

Look around, leaves are brown, there's a patch of snow on the ground, 
Look around, leaves are brown, there's a patch of snow on the ground, 
Look around, leaves are brown, there's a patch of snow on the ground..."
~You Remind Me of Home 
Ben Gibbard, Home

Sunday, November 18, 2012

11/18/12

Here's a tune that perfectly captures my loneliness/paranoia/commitment issues/penchant for picture-perfect, vivid memories of places and/or dreams, all of which make trying to sleep kind of difficult sometimes:



"A nice heart and a white suit and a baby blue sedan
And I am doing the best that I can
All the eunuchs, they were standing in rows
singing, 'Please stud us out just as fast as you possibly can.'
Sad song, last dance and no one knows who the band was
And Henry, you danced like a wooden Indian
Except this one mattered and I felt it had a spirit
And I shot the story because I didn't hear it that way

And it's hard to be a human being
And it's harder as anything else
And I'm lonesome when you're around
And I'm never lonesome when I'm by myself
And I miss you when you're around

And I miss you when you're around
And I miss you when you're around
And I miss you when you're around
And I miss you when you're around"
~Baby Blue Sedan 
Modest Mouse, Building Nothing Out of Something

Friday, November 16, 2012

11/16/12

This band's gonna blow the hell up, I predict.

What a hook. What tones. Good structure. What an all-too-common story to tell. Like the reference to skinny jeans. A modern sound without sacrificing familiar rock formats (like the layered break), like they do so well in the UK. They're kind of like Kings of Leon, but better singer. I hear some synth I don't see in the video, which is odd, but might just be pedals and my ears are too sleepy to tell. Definitely lots of electric fun in their songs, which is young and sexy and trendy and translucent, like falling.

Anyone signed to Vagrant off an EP, too, gives me high hopes. Please have a full length in 2013, boys.



"And this is how it starts
You take your shoes off in the back of my van
My shirt looks so good
When it's just hanging off your back
She said use your hands and my spare time
We've got one thing in common, it's this tongue of mine

She said she's got a boyfriend anyway....

There's only minutes before I drop you off
And all we seem to do it talk about sex
She's got a boyfriend anyway
She's got a boyfriend anyway

I love your friend when I saw his film
He's got a funny face, but I like that because he still looks cool
She's got a boyfriend anyway,
She's got a boyfriend anyway...

Now we are on the bed in my room
And I'm about to fill his shoes
But you say no
You say no
Does he take care of you
Or could I easily fill his shoes
You say no
You say no


And now we're just outside of town,
And you're making your way down,
She's got a boyfriend anyway,
She's got a boyfriend anyway...
And I'm not trying to stop you love,
But if we're gonna do anything we might as well just fuck

She's got a boyfriend anyway,
She's got a boyfriend anyway...

You've got your tongue pierced anyway
You in your hightops anyway
You in your skinny jeans anyway

You and your fit friends anyway
I'd take them all out any day

They've all got back combs anyway
You've all got boyfriends anyway"

~Sex
The 1975, Sex EP

Thursday, November 15, 2012

11/15/12

Certainly I'll never tire of hearing Lindsey Buckingham's magical fingers do things to strings, but his new acoustic album is certainly on my something-buy-for-myself-while-Christmas-shopping Christmas list.

He takes "Never Going Back Again" and rearranges a tiny-but-powerful Rumors cut into something soft, regretful, eerie. It's still forging ahead, with it's great resolving melody, But it's much sadder, deeper, hurt. The interlude is far more somber and what he does vocally in the refrain fuels the heart of the song to the extreme, with whispers crescendoing into a powerful, pained, but perfectly pitched peak.

A pretty damn close to perfect updated arrangement.

Guy knows how to sing, knows how to use tone, and has impeccable timing all around. Just a master. Also he really knows how to write a song -- listen to the chat between tracks at the end of the song where he reminds the audience what the famous line "looking out for love" from the next track really means.

Apparently good things can happen in Des Moines (where this album was recorded live). Still glad I didn't end up living there, though.

"She broke down and let me in
Made me see where I've been

Been down one time
Been down two times
I'm never going back again

You don't know what it means to win
Come down and see me again

Been down one time
Been down two times
I'm never going back again"

~Never Going Back Again
Fleetwood Mac, Rumours, (as re-arranged and performed by Lindsey Buckingham for Lindsey Buckingham: One Man Show)

11/15/12



I have something of a penchant for songs that compare men to alcohol. It's a characteristic that lives in me somewhere next to the part that thinks dark, dingy alleys are romantic. Criticize, roll your eyes, it's true.

Don't listen to this album much anymore. Reminds me of freshman/sophomore year of college - whoa, that was awhile ago. But this hook got stuck in my head somehow this afternoon. Definitely a trendy album at the time that probably won't have much staying power as the years go on (could we say that for anything that was featured in an Apple commercial, maybe?), but it sure set a scene or two. Girl can sing. She's also Canadian.

Yeah. Those boys that are like liquor. Not a bad comparison.

"He's my Brandy Alexander, always gets me into trouble..." ~Brandy Alexander
Feist, The Reminder

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

11/14/12

Sitting a a hotel, watching palm trees whip round in 21 mph winds. Feeling reality suspended for a few more hours. After a while of this, this song came to my mind, it is fun and it is flirty as it tells that tale of what sounds like a rather visceral run-around. Part ballad, part metaphor, I think.

Something in this Simon and Garfunkel-esque rollicking, the steady tambourine and probably the fact Fisher is Canadian makes me love this song. As far as singer-songwriters go, he is on the internal narrative side, but the way he sets the story is what sets off his lyrics more than any great revelation. Great with a hook, "doo-doo-doos" or "yeah-yeah-yeah," group vocals underscored by things like banjos and mandolins.

This song, though, I particularly adore, because I like those upbeat tunes about being defeated, and that's a damn fun chorus.



Something very "life goes on" about that, rather than some sad sack at a piano mourning and hollowing (though that has a place, too).

Maybe it jumped out at me this morning because I've been on the lighthearted side lightly. I've been on quite the adventure the last couple weeks, lots of travel, lots of  new people, lots of spontaneity and fun and inspiration. A certain degree of benchmarking. Much to be happy about. Much to enjoy. I even managed to properly stretch out my back, given the time and a hot tub, doing wonders for my overall sense of well-being. And yet, there it is, the nagging lonely, the empty head syndrome of having no one to wrap myself around. So a song like this is a good fit for this morning, when everything is clipping right along in the eyes of the world but I'm no less lost in my head.

"She's my polyrhythm
Carryin' my heart like the beat
So fast I can't keep up
My prayers sing the melody

She runs guns, everyone wants guns,
She runs guns, everyone wants there she goes,
She runs guns, everyone wants guns,
She runs guns, everyone wants there she goes....


Why you wanna save me?
Lord my soul is taken

She cried, I cried so hard
Left her for the L.R.A.
Fly by like a million hornets
These bullets know my name

She runs guns, everyone wants guns,
She runs guns, everyone wants there she goes...
She runs guns, everyone wants guns,
She runs guns, everyone wants there she goes..

I done too much damage,
Got nothing left to feel,
My self is broke and bandaged,
Her love is a scar that never heals.


Why you wanna save me?
Lord my soul is shaken
Why you wanna save me?
Lord my soul is taken


She runs guns everyone wants guns,
She runs guns everyone wants there she goes,
She runs guns everyone wants guns,
She runs guns everyone wants there she goes...."

~Love is a Scar That Never Heals
Jeremy Fisher, Goodbye Blue Monday

Saturday, November 3, 2012

11/3/12



Good mornings have good coffee and good songs, the kinds with harmonies and odd layers of instruments and musings on humanity. I am well-rested for the first time in what feels like days, I can listen better and focus on little moments.This album has so many.

I think it'd be a wonderful thing to write songs this sad and thoughtful, I do not think that everyone who thinks they can pull it off can, but you know it instantly when you've heard someone who can get it right.

"It's not hard to live like a ghost
I just haunt all that I've wanted
And leave what I don't
I dreamt a trail up to the sky
And my brothers built propellers
Just to see how far they'd fly

So hold, high how faint your reasons
Or you'll never get on

Your flashing sparrows chasing with them
Or you'll never get on
Don't you forget you come from nothing
Or you'll never get on
That wind is calling my name
I won't wait, or I'll never get on"

~Half Moon 
Blind Pilot, We Are The Tide

Friday, November 2, 2012

11/2/12



It's amazing, how many things manage not to change while everything else is spinning.

For example, I am still the girl who doesn't mind sitting home alone, discovering and dreaming and being in my own little wandering world. And yet, life happens, full of surprises and challenges and "too-good-to-say-no" chances, interrupting my chance to explore but exhilarating in its own fascinating, eye-opening and hopefully absurd way.

Sameness, stillness, is not bad after all that. So after a ridiculous week of too many press conferences and deadlines, way too many words in too few hours, too many beers and too much to process, I will sit here and listen to Jimmy Eat World, like nothing is new, alone with myself and my words and my thoughts and I am grateful that not everything changes, because maybe, it is really is better this way.


Thursday, November 1, 2012

11/1/12



I have a secret theory a lot of Copeland songs would sound really amazing arranged for an orchestra. One that performs somewhere outside at night, under stars, with amphitheater-style staging and crowds scattered on the lawn.

A decent amount of their songs, especially on the last two albums, have quite varied instrumentation, but I think this would translate well, too. S'all in my head.

Lately I've been tearing songs apart and listening to everything as best I can, then trying to pluck out solos even if I know they are too hard for me to pull off, stretching tendons and forcing precision in the meantime. It is pretty much the only thing I can do lately that really distracts me from the rest of my life, the rest of the world and these ridiculous people I find in it that I no longer know what to say to anymore. Music = better option.

"Go if you want
Make your way straight to the door
I hope that you look back before you go
Because grace looks perfect before it starts to leave

It’s a fight between my heart and mind
No one really wins this time
No one really wins this time..."

~No One Really Wins This Time 
Copeland, In Motion

Thursday, October 25, 2012

10/25/12



"Two headlights shine through the sleepless night
And I will get you, get you alone
Your name has echoed through my mind
And I just think you should, think you should know
That nothing safe is worth the drive I will
Follow you, follow you home...
I'll follow you, follow you home..

I'll follow you, follow you home...
I'll follow you, follow you home...

This slope is treacherous

I, I, I like it"
~Treacherous
Taylor Swift, Red

I told myself, "Self, you haven't blogged in awhile, make sure that when you do, it's not about the new Taylor Swift album, because you've got a long list of older tunes that deserve a heads-up."

Alas.

This song pushes me to the break that promise. Mostly because of the bridge. "Red" overall is pretty damn impressive.

OK. Back to work now.

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

10/16/12

"...I'm on the ledge, while you're so, goddamned polite and composed..."
~Fallout
Marianas Trench, Ever After



Have I ever mentioned how fantastic of a singer I think Josh Ramsay is? Because he is. Marianas Trench is overtly pop, as far as my tastes go, though they'll get some play in scene crowds on occasion. If I believed in the thing of guilty pleasures, these guys would be it. But that's a cop-out category in general, you dig something or you don't and if you're ashamed of what you like you have self-image issues that run deeper than liking a pop tune. I love driving and singing to this band (poorly, albeit). The part of me that is a total romantic sap is completely sold, packaged and shipped.

(Every now and again, I want to listen to something that doesn't completely depress the living daylights out of me, believe it or not.)

Their latest effort, "Ever After," was pretty impressive, vocally and otherwise. It was framed as a concept album....which I have trouble listening before  but eh, creative license, I guess? There's a lot of fantasy imagery, and in the music videos they pull it out strong. They're clearly quite creative and drama-minded. But I find it hard to pull out a truly specific narrative other than fairy tales don't come true unless you try to make them.

Anyway I think the songs are hella-fun, the production is laser-perfect and the vocals/harmonies are soooo good. Lovelovelove. This tune is happier, dance-ier:



"We've been stuck now so long,
We just got the start wrong,
One more last try,
I'ma get the ending right.

You can't stop this, and I must insist,
That you haven't had enough,
You haven't had enough,

Stuck now so long,
We just got the start wrong,
No more last place,
You better get your story straight.

You can't stop this, and I must insist,
That you haven't had enough,
You haven't had enough.."

~Haven't Had Enough 
Marianas Trench, Ever After

Thursday, October 11, 2012

10/11/12



A very beautiful song.

A pair of very talented ladies performed this at an open mic last night, I was very impressed. Pretty much everyone was phenomenal last night. But this song was extremely well-executed and they sang like angels from Folk Heaven. I myself was not so impressive -- quite the opposite, actually, still trying to erase the memory. But it all got me thinking about natural talent, the gifts we're born with that we choose to hone. It could be anything. You'll hear people say that 90 percent of success is showing up, and that talent means nothing if you don't use it...which I believe, to a certain degree. Affinities need to be mastered in order to achieve greatness. Sweat equity bears results. But sheer, God-given talent...well, regardless of skill, you just know it when you see it or hear it or read it or whatever. It touches your heart instantly, makes time stop and makes you see the world in a different way, for a minute or for forever.

I simply don't think that's something you can learn. Pity those of us who are not as blessed, who instead look up in a humble mix of awe and envy, wondering what it feels like to be able to give those gifts to the world.

"I was born when I met you,
Now I'm dying to forget you,
And that is what I know.

Though I dreamed I would fall,
Like a wounded cannonball,
Sinking down with my heart in tow.

Bright lights like white lightning,
Who shot me down?
Who will cut me down?
I'm frozen in my bed till the day comes around,
How I'm lost,
How I'm found.

There's a man all alone,
Telling me his friends are gone,
That they've died and flown away.
So I told him he was wrong,
That you friends are never gone,
If you look to the sky and pray.


Bright lights like white lightning
Who shot me down
Who will cut me down
I'm frozen in my bed till the day comes around
How I'm lost
How I'm found

Someone told me a lie
Someone looked me in the eye
And said time will ease your pain
But behold, when you fall
It's that same old cannonball
Coming back for your heart again


Bright lights like white lightning
Who shot me down
Who will cut me down
I'm frozen in my bed till the day comes around
And it may come around
Until the day comes around
How I'm lost
How I'm found

I was born when I met you
Now I'm dying to forget you
And that is what I know
."

~Cannonball
Brandi Carlile, The Story

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

10/9/12



This makes me smile.

First there's the seemingly unchoreographed, slightly awkard milling about stage, clapping and casting sidelong glances to those with instruments in hand. He is the new kid, young and anxious and uncontrollably giddy. Then that second verse? The way Bruce smiles in the background, then the way he nails the last two lines and the ? You can tell Brian Fallon is having the time of his life. This is the moment he cannot believe he is really living.

Good things come to those who don't give up.

Plus, who doesn't love this song? It was extra meaningful for me this past summer, deployed all alone in the world with little but memories for comforting company. Made me remember how much fun I've been fortunate enough to have. Then there's how I routinely feel my bones aching, catch my hair falling out and require four aspirin instead of two after too much hard liquor on Friday nights. Feeling older makes you remember how free it felt to be young, I suppose...yet all of it just makes me want to hold on tighter, to dive back into doing whatever it takes to get that life I didn't dare dream of. The one where I get to feel careless and tameless, inspired and unencumbered by passion and love and nothing to hold me back.

They'd say not to do it. But surely listening to conventional wisdom never did Bruce Springsteen or Brian Fallon any good.

"Now on the street tonight the lights grow dim,
The walls of my room are closing in,
There's a war outside still raging,
You say it ain't ours anymore to win.

I want to sleep beneath peaceful skies in my lover's bed
With a wide open country in my eyes
And these romantic dreams in my head

We made a promise we swore we'd always remember,
No retreat, baby, no surrender.
Like soldiers in the winter's night with a vow to defend,
No retreat, baby, no surrender.
"
~No Surrender
Bruce Springsteen, Born in the U.S.A.

Monday, October 8, 2012

10/8/12

Warning: This will be all over the place.

It's truly fucked up how much years can fuck up everything.

So I'm going to listen to the So Impossible EP on repeat, anyway. Because songs this sad and unadorned and unprecedented are somehow justifying, 10 years after I first burned them onto purple Memorex discs.



So sure that I am righteous, I hear what it is to hear honestly, and then it easily passes from one ear to other because I couldn't care less. Because my head and my heart are living elsewhere,somewhere miles and mountains of feelings away...it would just feel so refreshing to have someone tell me something impossible, something wonderful. It's very easy to detect what is false and what is desperate, because those things are all over...what's more is to find something special, honest, unique, real, and those things are just not in front of my eyes or hands or mind at this time.

The past, though, reminds how it felt,and it is haunting, distracting.

I'm debating getting a pickup in the Epiphone so I can plug in.Cheaper than getting a new guitar, and it could sound really wonderful considering how it rings....I just don't know if I feel like modifying my first guitar? Something pure about it I want to keep, hold onto, remember. Because so much else fades into nothing. Possessions are so transient, and people are too, so the few you manage to retain it may be best to preserve.

Above all I value honesty, beyond that, strength, and those are just really hard things to come by.

"I'm starting to fashion an idea in my head
where I would impress you
with every single word I said
Would come out insightful or brave or smooth or charming
and you'd want to call me


And I would be there every time

you'd need me
I'd be there every time...
But for now I'll look so longingly
waiting...
For you to want me, for you to need me, for you to notice me"
~For You To Notice
Dashboard Confessional, So Impossible EP 

Sunday, October 7, 2012

10/7/12

One of my favorites on this record. My favorite part of this song -- that real quick measure of picking then the organ kicks in. Don't forget you have Danger Mouse on this record, hitting and holding those chords with just the right attack. Just a perfectly sad little song, warm and muted and hurt.



"Ain't it just like dying,
Except you can still feel the shame,
All hands on deck now,
The sea is getting rough again.

You see him out your window,
And even when you close the blinds,
Cause all you ever wanted
Was someone to treat you nice and kind.

Take a step before runnin',
Take a breath now before you dive.
When you walk the streets, darlin,
Make sure your sneaker laces they get tied.

I'll be a black bird darling
Hanging on your telephone wire

Flap my wings over you
And set your heart afire"

~All You Ever Wanted
The Black Keys, Attack & Release

Thursday, October 4, 2012

10/4/12

Found this song on a mix recently, love it more now than I did then. Sort of bummed I can't find a video with the album version, because I love the production and it sounds so good at the last couple lines...but this version has fun solos, even if the audio sucks and it cuts off super abruptly at the end. YouTube, I expected more from you.



I never really listened to Mae after "The Everglow," probably should check it out for kicks. Their songs have a consistent frankness about the consistent perils love and want and life...and yet their songs exudes positivity, for an early 2000s scene group, anyway.

"She greets the day with her hair wet
She asks them to vacate the building
Because she's got a plan they don't know yet
And if it goes wrong, there'll be no one to see

If she could just get the word out
God knows she's trying
They're watching her with eyes closed
She's always stuck with the old route
Does anyone knock when they barge in to beat her down?

Will you come back?
It's all she wants to know,
She knows she's part of the problem too.
Could she let it go?
It'd take a miracle,
So that's what I'm praying for.

No one can know just how she feels,
She won't use the phone, she's too tired to pick it up.
She's going back to the old way,
She sits in the classroom to learn with the others.

Please don't give up when it's easy
Don't you know that me and Jesus will cheer you on?
He's the only one that will be constantly everything you need

Will you come back?
It's all she wants to know,
She knows she's part of the problem too.
Could she let it go?
It'd take a miracle
So that's what I'm praying for.

She lives on Tisbury Lane
She lives on Tisbury Lane"

~Tisbury Lane 
Mae, Destination: Beautiful

Correction: An earlier version of this post incorrectly stated Mae's album "Destination: Beautiful" as "Embers and Envelopes," which is actually the name of the first track. The sleepy author regrets this error, because "Destination: Beautiful" is a great album title.

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

10/2/12

So dark, so right. The instrumental a little before halfway into this song is stunning, with the same choirlike echo that caps it off again at the end. The desperation is palpable, foreboding. Frighteningly steady. Question loss of faith not lost on me.



I woke up at 3:30 a.m. today, no particular reason other than restlessness. Think I slept too much this weekend, maybe. My body seems to like feeling a little strung out and I have been taking such decent care of myself that I think it could be rebelling. That, or the emotions I've swallowed are chewing at me, ulcer-like, from the inside out. I don't know what's right anymore, but I do know being up all night alone in bed probably isn't it. 

"They call holidays an option for a reason,
I heard you're coming back to life just for the fourth.
I've been catching all your ghosts for every season,
I pray to God you won't come back here anymore.

do you pray with him, too?

They should deliver all my blessings
in small brown paper handbags near the porch.
I wished I'd known that you were bleeding while I sat
and watched you reading with the Lord.

I read with him, too.

When you look at me,
I'll be digesting your legs.
Cause I can hardly see
what's in front of me these days
and those days, too.
I've got to take what I'm making,
and turn it into something,
I've got to take what I'm making,
and turn it into something,
for you...

I've got to break what I'm making,
and turn it into nothing,
I've got to break what I'm making,
and turn it into nothing,
for you...


God, where have you been?"
~Where Have You Been? 
Manchester Orchestra, I'm Like a Virgin Losing a Child

Friday, September 28, 2012

9/28/12

Here is an album I have loved for a long time, since the first time I gave it a good listen. Must've been October, junior year of college. I remember driving from Syracuse to Canandaigua to stay a friend's cabin for the night where they were recording an album.

I got really lost on the dark roads in the valleys - this cabin was tucked in the hills around the lake, and I wasn't familiar with the terrain, the road names, or how prevalent deer running across country roads really are. Funny, that I learned to know those same roads pretty well just a couple years later.

But that night, that drive, got scary fast. I hate being lost and this was before I had a smartphone and its wonderful GPS navigation. Not that I would've had service anyway -- I remember trying to call my friends for help and failing to catch a signal. It was getting dark, I was already an hour late, and I was turning down road after road trying to find a main drag, when I was on this skinny stretch of pavement that turned to stone dust that turned to dirt straight into a bunch of trees.

I still remember how the leaves looked, headlights right up against the branches. It was terrifying, the solitude and the darkness. It was oddly beautiful, exhilarating.

But I had this album on, it was something I hadn't heard yet, and drives are good chance to get a full album listen in without distraction.  Not sure what to expect but feeling the need for something new, this was playing even before I started to wonder where I was. I found it awe-inspiring, it played away the anxiety and the tension in that moment of stress of human error, and somehow so much more.

So, in front of those trees, I didn't freak out (much), I didn't scream (well only once), and I took a seven-point-or-so-turn to backtrack up the dirt, up the stone dust and onto the pavement and county roads. Sure it was dark, and I didn't know where I was, but how could I not love what I was seeing, these lands stretched and molded under the bright, bright stars in the clearest navy skies you'll ever find.

Eventually I found cell service, directions, and a boy and a beer waiting for me at a cabin overlooking the heart of the lake and its western shore. Through it all I heard "Mending" two-and-a-half times through.

The atmosphere The New Frontiers bring is soothing and stilling, but the sentiment is a shade or two deeper than that. It speaks straight from the heart, without being filtered through the pretentious, ego-centric mind. So you get big thoughts and deep thoughts, but they're loving thoughts, telling the truth and surrendering to honesty. Not afraid to mention Jesus (See "Who Will Give Us Love?", a song that will truly mend your broken heart when the world's tragedy feels too much to hear anymore), but hardly preachy.

The softest harmonies you can imagine. Gentle acoustic,amplified on occasion, satisfying resolve. Reflective to the most upmost level, almost "Clarity"-like this album has become to me.

If I had to pick, "Mirrors" is probably my favorite track, because I love bells, and because it is ultimately moving, symphonic in the equal part layers of vocal and melody arrangements. The album is stunning, this song shows why.

"Mending" was the only album The New Frontiers ever released. I wonder if it was because they knew they couldn't top it. I would like to hear more, maybe, but I don't need to.

This album kept me from losing it one night, and it has a miraculous ability to do so ever since. Without even noticing, I hear a song come up on a playlist, and I relax and smile; it makes my eyes fill with tears that don't spill over and my heart feels a little lighter and I remember peace.



"This is the house where you were born,
These rooms seem smaller than before.
Turned 22 when were you found,
Shattered and broken on the ground.

They will rob you blind
They will take your peace of mind

And you'll want to run away from here.I know you can't escape from all of your fears,
I made my peace with the world and all that it brings,
Holding my own.

We saw a spark within your eyes,
Your face reflected in the light,
We are all angels in the sky,
We are all mirrors in disguise.


We will lift you up,
We will place you on your feet,
We will pick you up,
We will never let you go.

When you want to run away from here,
I found you can't escape from all of your fears.
I've made my peace with the world and all that it brings,
Holding my own.
"

~Mirrors
The New Frontiers, Mending


Thursday, September 27, 2012

9/27/12

I thought to myself today: Why be so hard on yourself? The world will inevitably abuse you in its own, fortuitous way.

Like the trauma after a car crash and the hard roll onto the pavement, the damage is less severe if you just let it happen.

This is the kind of mood instrumental post-rock is for. The tempo changes, the layers, the crescendos that erupt in cymbals and resonate in high-pitched melodies...we glimpse into something greater when there's nothing but sound to tell the story, and god this would sound so good on real speakers right now.

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

9/25/12

Probably the best use of garden-variety keyboard beats I've seen ever maybe.



Also, shaker egg! Really fantastic harmonies. Easy to love, sort of makes you want to dance. But beneath all the twirling auxiliary, and those wonderful mandolin strings, there's a really lovely song, an assertive, berated yet dignified love letter. Something very 19th century about it that is refreshing, charming.

It's a well-crafted structure, in the sense it's very even and that's not something everyone can do, as it can be tough to find the right words that are also the right number of syllables and rhyme enough. Sure I love something asymmetrical, that's certainly interesting, but something this steady is simple, and simple works more often than not.

Some friends of mine played with these guys back home last night. Interesting in checking out their album...would've been so cool to see that show! Alas.

"When I was a boy of nine
I loved you with all my mind,
all my heart, all my soul,
Love me now or lose it all.

Your sister Jean and Anne Marie
say that you're in love with me.
Is there something I can't see?
Love me now or leave me be.

Down by the river on past the creek,
all me way to Widow's Peak,
proclaimed my love but you didn't speak,
love me now or hold your peace.


The baker and the butcher's wife
say you lead a lonely life,

need a man to stand beside,
love me now or stand aside.

Darling, it's so plainly true,
even I get lonely too.
When my heart is set on you,
love me now or leave me."

~Boy of Nine
Buxton, Nothing Here Seems Strange

Sunday, September 23, 2012

9/23/12

Someone explain to me how it is the the 23rd of September in the year 2012. I just don't understand how fast time can move. It is beyond comprehension.

So this happened today. It's a little rough, the angle is not exceptionally flattering, but how fun it was! Something to remind me I still remember what it's like to feel creative, hence I have something to wake up in the morning for:

You should tell me if you liked it. Feedback of all types not unwelcome.

Thursday, September 20, 2012

9/20/12

For whatever reason, I've been on a huge The Starting Line kick lately. Whenever they come up on the iPod, I'm like "Sure, OK, let's go with this."

Interesting to me I haven't blogged on them before? Because "Say It Like You Mean It" is such a fantastic mainstay, but ya know, I only get around to this every so often. But I've been a huge kick lately, every TSL song on shuffle has made me stop (And yes, OK, I jam out to "Island." You caught me. It's the only track of "Direction" that makes the cut, though).

This one, though, particularly I love, short and sweet as it is:


Love the beat, love the phrasing, love the concept. Straight-the-fuck-up. Love that goodbyes can be so upbeat.

It gets it all in one. Loved. Unloved. Circumstance, Inspired. And so it goes.

"Lead on,
to keep our feelings strong,
and make me still believe
our page is one and the same
Our ways will separate tonight.


You say if we were to wait.
Some things just might be changed.
I say that I dont have the strength
to fuel a burning flame.
Speak to me,
What can I say, we just live too far away.

That's a shame that love can't make you stay.
Sweet thing,
I hope that you know I'm wondering where you are.
You say this could work someday,
When you and I both know this is the end.

Leave me the way it has to be,
excuse my poor excuse.
Tell me that insecurities
are what drove me to you.

And everyday I compare your face
from sweet beginnings to your bitter end...
Sweet thing,
I hope that you know I'm wondering where you are.
You say this could work someday,
when you and I both know this is the end.
Let me let go...
Sweet thing,
I hope that you know I'm wondering where you are
You say this could work someday,
When you and I both know this is the end
.
"
~Hello Houston
The Starting Line, Say It Like You Mean It

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

9/18/12

One thing about recklessness, it's not always aggressive. Sometimes it's quiet. Despondent. A little hopeless.



"Gonna burn the town
if you lie to me.
Gonna set it off,
oh baby, I was blind to see.
Talk me down,
I'll find my wings,
a big bad soul,
Some say that it's the end of me.

And I tell myself, it's not following me,
Break me out of here, cause it's blinding me.
Lie to me baby, don't you lie to me
Nothing's gonna change if you wait to save me.

When the world is down
And fast asleep,
They can't break us now,
Nobody's here for you or me.

I'm half way gone,
Don't want to be alone,
I'll burn the town,
I'll find you if you want to be found.


And I tell myself thye're not following me,
Break me out of here, cause it's blinding me.
Lie to me baby, don't you lie to me,
Nothing's gonna change if you wait to save me.

And I tell myself, it's not following me,
Break me out of here, cause it's blinding me.
Lie to me baby, don't you lie to me,
Nothing's gonna change if you can't, can't save me."
~Burn This Town 
Battleme

Monday, September 17, 2012

9/17/12

You know that feeling you get when you think you have a great idea, only to find it's been done? Not only that, but been done well? It's that mix of feeling disappointed and unoriginal, embarrassed by your own foolishness in thinking maybe you got something cool going on after all. But, after, there's also a wave of self-satisfaction, a bit of a kudos to the instinct.

That's how I felt after I heard this...:



...at the store the other day, and thought "Man, it would so rad to to make this into a sad acoustic cover!" only to hear this...:



...on a Pandora station today. Fun little arpeggio motif, West-Coast-cool vocals, and an unidentifiable instrument and/or pedal holding down a simple and effective rhythmic line. It thoroughly modernizes a classic, a little more depth and a little less pep, though it doesn't completely sacrifice the innocent charm of the original.

Secretly wish I was around for the Ed Sullivan days. Back when even the bad-side-of-tracks-greaser-rock-n-roll boys wore suits and ties and had clean hair, it seems. I have to believe everyone used to have better manners than they do today, where most people treat everyone else like yesterday's trash and think nothing of it. Still, I bet some people were still jerks. Jerks are as timeless as a crush-inspired love song.

Whatever. I still could figure out my own (sadder) version of this tune, maybe. But now I'm just YouTubing a bunch of Buddy Holly videos and making my cat hang out with me. What kind of life am I trying to lead, anyway? Really thought I'd have that worked out by now.

"Everyday it's a-gettin' closer
Goin' faster than a rollercoaster
Love like yours will surely come my way
Hey, hey-hey"

~Everyday 
Buddy Holly and the Crickets, B-Side on "Peggy Sue"

Thursday, September 13, 2012

9/13/12


Pretty obsessed with this one off "Handwritten." Nice contrast in the early guitar parts, then some really resounding but subtle delay, just the way it should be used. There's something circular, almost merry-go-round about it, maybe it's in the way he manipulates the vocal line on the chorus.  There's only so much build until the end, it is steady.

Don't call it a sleeper track -- I think it's one of the most mature perspectives we've heard from Gaslight yet. It's completely and utterly patient, but none the less heartfelt for it. This is a song that recognizes the sweeter side to the gravity, if not the tragedy, of waiting for someone to come around, waiting for life's tides to turn. At such times, usually, there is nothing to do but wait.

I listened to this song at least two dozen times this week, spurred by a flood of memories and kisses that made me beg for a rewind button to appear, because so much can change so fast. Some moments, some people, can rewrite the soul in an instant without any sound intention. Just like that, the world is different, even though everything around you is the same.

It's kind of like taking a walk down the streets you drive by all the time. The vantage point is different, off-kilter, and you wonder how you've missed so much all this time. Like ornate window trimmings on an otherwise ordinary house, or a flowering tree littering petals along the sidewalk, or a brass nameplate on a mailbox, or a sad, yellowed front yard that must've been abandoned for years. You know you've seen these things before, in passing, but from this point of view, you use a whole other set of eyes. And then, in a way, it  makes you appreciate the whole scene that much more. 

"Stay the same, don’t ever change,
Cause I’d miss your ways.

With your Bette Davis eyes,
And your mama's party dress.

While this city pumps its aching heart
For one more drop of blood,
We work our fingers down to dust
And we wait for kingdom come
With the radio on.

I wanna see you tonight
Would you come for a drive?
You can lean into me
If you ain't been in love for a while.


I was born beside a river
That flows to a raging sea
That will one day serve to quell,
Or one day be the death of me.

In my faded jeans and far away eyes,
And salty carnival kiss,
That all my former lovers say
Was once magnificent.


I wanna see you tonight,
Would you come for a drive?
You can lean into me
And if you ain't, oh if you ain't...
I wanna see you tonight,
Would you come for a drive?
You can lean into me
If you ain't been in love for a while

And still this city pumps its aching heart
For one more drop of blood.
We work our fingers down to dust
While we wait for kingdom come
With the radio on...


It's been so long Mae, so long
It's been so long Mae, so long
But since the radio's on..."

~Mae 
The Gaslight Anthem, Handwritten

Sunday, September 9, 2012

9/9/12

Tiny Desk Concerts are a good way to kick off bound-to-be-adventurous Sundays.

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

9/4/12

Nick Torres, please teach me your ways. Master of assonance and parallelism, he is. But you might not know without a real close ear. It was something potentially lost on the pop-punk scene of the early 2000s. Maybe why Northstar didn't blow up like the rest of them? But then we got Cassino, so I have no complaints.

I do, however, love this album, and it's occupying my mind well tonight. Could probably play this song seven more times tonight and still feel like it's not enough.



"Let's sober up, it's time to find that galaxy
that was created and named after me.
But these rocket hips blew apart the entire ship.
So if you find some pieces,
just name them after me.
It's on fire, it's my empire.
It went up so fast I couldn't grab it
along with medicine and magic
that keeps me breathing right on key,
Broken straps strap in the captain
that's praying just for me.

And this is so typical, erased by the author of me.
So dance to some broken chords,
with broken knees, through open doors.

And save me with a microphone,
Give me something so I can go home.
Give me something so I can go home. 
Don't you have a lesson for me?

I raced concrete to the front row seats,
Threw her bows and whiskey kisses and left
her on the street with her hands out
and her head down.
She's nothing more than a movie that never panned out.
Hey Mr. Destiny, you forgot about me,
You forgot to leave a number.
You forgot to name the street.
This is American living with my American dream,
It thunders like a river, but it's cold just like a stream.

And this is so typical, erased by the author of me.
So dance to some broken chords,
with broken knees through open doors.
And save me with a microphone
Give me something so I can go home
Give me something so I can go home
Don't you have a lesson for me?


And I know now,
Things don't get much better than this,
Life doesn't get much bigger than this.

So dance to some broken chords
with broken knees
through open doors
and save me with a microphone
Give me something so I can go home
Give me something so I can go home

Don't you have a lesson for me?
So teach me something so I can go."
~American Living 
Northstar, Pollyanna

Monday, September 3, 2012

9/3/12

Can't not love this video/song.

Love the instrumentation, the space between the harmonies and the simple, simple parts....hard to beat a stand-up, too. Also, I think I am predisposed to love any song named after my beloved home state or its pinnacle city, as well as those with this certain sentimental feeling.



"I hear the train all night,
Sound of it's wind blowing through our subtle lives.
And I have a job to do walking these cars,
Walking all this sleep to get to you.

But I don't feel you stir beside me,
And you're not in my morning hours.

Some ties are made to break,
Some stalks grow high and green to rot away,
And feel the weight.

And these lines tell a truth,
These city veins answer all we do.
So could you keep me in the pulses?

Could you keep me in the sound?

I got wise and I got old
Not once, not once did I fold
So don't you now


Maybe you bet on me
While we were still young enough to know
What to believe

For every year you took,
For every soft breath or loving look,
Believe me,

And don't keep me like you have me
And don't kiss me like you don't

I got wise and I got old,
Not once, not once did I fold,
So don't you now.

Some land holds a home,
Some of my years only hold me to roam.
But I tell myself it's true
You see a home, you see a man
You see it too.

And I say "Don't you know you have her,
Go on kiss her now you boy."

I got wise and I got old,
Not once, not once did I fall,
So don't you now.

I got wise and I got old,
Not once, not once did I fall,
So don't you now."

~New York
Blind Pilot, We Are the Tide

Thursday, August 30, 2012

8/30/12

In my best moments, my heart lives somewhere in the chorus of Tennessee-born Americana tunes. The kind for dusty roads and dreams that never die, full of big eyes and hearts to match. Full of the magic of music and the promise it'll make something worth it.

A fine example:



"Way back on the radio dial,
A fire got lit inside a bright-eyed child.
Every note just wrapped around your soul,
From steel guitar to Memphis, all the way to rock and roll.

Woah, I can hear 'em playing
I can hear the ringing of a beat up old guitar
Woah, I can hear 'em saying
Keep on dreaming even if it breaks your heart

Downtown, where I used to wander,
Old enough to get there, but too young to get inside.
I would stand out on the sidewalk,
Listen to the music playing every Friday night.


Woah, I can hear 'em playing,
I can hear the ringing of a beat up old guitar.
Woah, I can hear 'em saying,
Keep on dreaming even if it breaks your heart.

Some dreams stay with you forever
Drag you around and lead you back to where you were. 

Some dreams keep on getting better,
Got to keep believing if you want to know for sure


Woah I can hear 'em playing,
I can hear the ringing of a beat up old guitar.
Woah I can hear 'em saying,
Keep on dreaming even if it breaks your heart.

Woah I can hear 'em playing,
I can hear the ringing of a beat up old guitar.
Woah I can hear 'em saying,
Keep on dreaming even if it breaks your heart.


Keep on dreaming even if it breaks your heart,
Keep on dreaming,
Don't let it break your heart."

~Even if it Breaks Your Heart
Will Hoge, The Wreckage

Sidenote: You'll also see this song from the Eli Young Band. Just as beautiful, a tad more country, but love that someone so mainstream noticed how beautiful this song is:

Monday, August 27, 2012

8/27/12

Since Thursday until about 7 p.m. today, the only album I played in my car is The Menzingers' "On the Impossible Past."

I try not to write about the same band two posts in a row, but I have barely absorbed anything else.



"Remember the days when I had a conscience? Yeah, me neither./And I'm warning, I'm warning, I'm warning you./And I'm warning, I'm warning, I'm warning you/That I can't seem to tell, I can't seem to tell, I can't seem to tell if it's my head or the earth that's spinning around." ~ I Can't Seem to Tell, The Menzingers, On the Impossible Past

I've concluded that "Gates" (see previous post) is their "please-play-me-on-the-radio" song, and I love it immensely. Beyond "Gates," the album shows to be grittier, grungier. Nothing I would classify as screamo, it's very melodic, but there's definitely some vocal chord tearing going on here and there. Love it. The title track is fascinating, a dirge-like memory of a car crash, that serves as a 1:33-long intro into "Nice Things," which is somewhat of a social commentary on how to not be a tool with a vocalist switch.

There's hints of an overarching narrative, something about American muscle cars and dating waitresses, passing mentions of drinking and drug use. Paints a pretty good picture of where this is coming from. A lot of it is just really sad, really desperate, yet really alive.

"And I'm pretty sure this corner of the world is the loneliest corner in the whole world." ~Sun Hotel, The Menzingers, On the Impossible Past

Many of the guitar parts remind me of songs a friend back home writes, a friend I look up to despite (or maybe because of) the fact he is a total fucking outlaw. I've also concluded this album feeds everything in me that loves punk bands, though. For example: really triumphant guitar solos in the face of falling faithless, really despondent tales of drinking while feeling said feelings, varying levels of begrudging maturity, screaming out a girl's name to the fates that fucked it all up, doubletime.

Take this hook, for example. If that's not what I want to hear on my way to work, I don't know what is.



"We stumbled and stared at the carnival lights that lit up New York City,
From a rooftop in Brooklyn that was covered in bad graffiti.
And then I let a thousand splinters pierce right through my spoiled liver,
Or whatever that was left of it.

'Cause I've cursed my lonely memory with picture-perfect imagery.
Maybe I'm not dying I'm just living in decaying cities.
But I'm still healthy, I'm still fine,
I've been spending all my time reading the obituaries.

But I will fuck this up,
I fucking know it.

I will fuck this up,
I fucking know it.
I will fuck this up,
I fucking know it.
I will fuck this up,
I fucking know it."

~The Obituaries
The Menzingers, On the Impossible Past

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

8/22/12

Holy fuck, all hail The Menzingers. A great choice on a day like today, when "fuck it all" seems to feel like the mantra no matter what the world tells me. Not winning, not losing, not even really feeling, so pop punk it is.


I love this song, in particular, one of the more uplifting tracks with a really dancey guitar melody. I've been checking out "On the Impossible Past," which the newest LP from the Scranton-bred pop-punk group, and it's incredibly authentic, incredibly defeated. Really powerful chords, dark-hearted lyrics and equally fitting bridges...really into the style of the lead vocalist who has a unique drawl that reminds me a little of something 90s. They manage to sound drunken and thrashy without sacrificing a literary license, a balance I must applaud.

Something about this album makes me miss home, then I remember how badly I wanted to leave home before I wound up here. Fuck it all.

"I am the pain that beats through your temples
Every morning when you wake up.
I am the boy with alcohol poisoning
From all the parties Chris was throwing
That summer they took us in
Like every other American
For getting drunk around back of the Lion's Club
Waiting for the shitty bands to finish up.
And some kids played hacky sack,
while the others just got high.

It's not hard to fall for a waitress
When you both smoke, smoke the same cigarettes
You'll get seated as diners or lovers
You'll get the check as friends for the better
You'll carve your names into the Paupack Cliffs
Just to read them when you get old enough to know
that happiness is just a moment


So I'm marching up to your gates today
To throw my lonely soul away
'Cause I don't need it
You can take it back


So I'm marching up to your gates today
To throw my lonely soul away
'Cause I don't need it
You can take it back



And they will make examples out of us
Like when they caught you in the CVS parking lot
But I fed the liars
Everything I got in my cabinet brain

of canned thoughts
Everything I've got
It was everything I've got
In my cabinet brain

So I'm marching up to your gates today
To throw my lonely soul away
'Cause I don't need it
You can take it back

Yeah I don't need it
You can take it back"

~Gates 
The Menzingers, On the Impossible Past

8/22/12



"I saw that mountain burn, or was it in my head?
I'll track down the words, if you dig up the dead.


Well I have never been free,
but I have always been cheap.

No, I have never been free.

But nothing in my bones can say just where you've been.
Nothing in my bones can let me start again, I'll start again.

My eyelids falling down, 
All my dreams in black and white.
I see so clearly now I won't ever get it right.
But I don't wanna be free. 
I don't wanna be me.
I don't wanna be free.

You want me scream at your ex-girlfriend.
But I wanna be much better than I am.
You want me scream at your ex-boyfriend.
But I wanna be, and I don't think I can.

Nothing in my bones can say just where you've been 
Nothing in my bones can let me start again 
I'll start again, I'll start again, 
I'll start again."
~Dig Up the Dead
Mansions,