tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-64954922023-11-15T23:01:37.098-08:00I Could Be The Walrus - An all-inclusive music blogIndie music blog. Ok, and mainstream music blog.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02858966776220305815noreply@blogger.comBlogger78125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6495492.post-69547835794954519322010-06-17T07:17:00.007-07:002010-06-28T17:04:26.370-07:00Life, Soundtrack IncludedSee this post, and the rest of this project at my new blog: <a href="http://recordingtherecordings.blogspot.com/">Recording the Recordings</a><br /><br />So, as part of my constant search for new music, I am often trying to educate myself on the history of the music I already enjoy and stretch my boundaries. So when I heard Tom Moon on the NPR show All Songs Considered talking about his new book, <em>1,000 Recordings To Hear Before You Die</em> I picked it up for my best friend John87, who is probably more obsessed with music than I am. I tried wrapping it as a Christmas gift, but ended up reading it as I wrapped all the other presents. When I finally wrapped it, it was the last present left, and my wife was starting to get irritated, so I finally had to finish up. A couple months later I went back to the store and bought the book for myself. My goal is to hear every song.<br /><br />I am already 221 recordings (mostly albums, but some songs scattered here and there, and also some box sets) into the book, and I just now decided to start recording the trip. Partly it's because there is so much music I often can't remember what the stuff I listened to sounds like. Partly it's because most of the recordings here are worth sharing, and this is a great way to point others in the right direction. And partly it's just fun.<br /><br />So, with that said, I am now keeping a record of my journey through a great book, and a great challenge. As I said, I have already listened to 221 of the recordings. This includes about 125 that I have now listened to alphabetically starting with ABBA on page one, plus nearly 100 other recordings scattered throughout that I had already heard when I picked up the book. Since my interest in music generally lies in the rock and blues genres, I realized if I picked my way through the book, in the end I would be left with opera and classical, and I would never go back and listen to those recordings. So I started at the start, and I have choked down my medicine of British opera and experimental jazz, and along the way already discovered lost greats like Baby Huey and the Babysitters, Dock Boggs and others. So you might be wondering, am I listening to one of the recordings right now? Hell yes I am.<br /><br /><object height="400" width="250"> <param name="movie" value="http://listen.grooveshark.com/widget.swf"> <param name="wmode" value="window"> <param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"> <param name="flashvars" value="hostname=cowbell.grooveshark.com&widgetID=21546701&style=metal&bbg=000000&bfg=3ab378&bt=FFFFFF&bth=000000&pbg=FFFFFF&pbgh=3ab378&pfg=000000&pfgh=FFFFFF&si=FFFFFF&lbg=FFFFFF&lbgh=3ab378&lfg=000000&lfgh=FFFFFF&sb=FFFFFF&sbh=3ab378&p=0"> <embed src="http://listen.grooveshark.com/widget.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" flashvars="hostname=cowbell.grooveshark.com&widgetID=21546701&style=metal&bbg=000000&bfg=3ab378&bt=FFFFFF&bth=000000&pbg=FFFFFF&pbgh=3ab378&pfg=000000&pfgh=FFFFFF&si=FFFFFF&lbg=FFFFFF&lbgh=3ab378&lfg=000000&lfgh=FFFFFF&sb=FFFFFF&sbh=3ab378&p=0" allowscriptaccess="always" wmode="window" height="400" width="250"></embed> </object><br /><br /><strong>Artist:</strong> Nati Cano's Mariachi los Camperos<br /><strong>Album:</strong> Viva El Mariachi!<br /><strong>Album #221</strong><br /><br />I didn't know what to expect from this one, but it comes charging out of the gates from the start with "Los Arrieros." It was the perfect start to my morning, as I actually got a decent amount of sleep for the first time in a week. My son still has a problem with being put in his crib, but he is finally eating better, which helps to knock him out, and lowers the stress level for my wife and myself. The voices on this album are so plaintive and strong, and the strings twist in and around each other, raising the whole affair to heights so much higher than what you would expect mariachi to sound like. In fact, there are a couple songs, "El Gustito" and "La Maleguena," where the falsetto singing sounds almost like something you would hear in a traditional Hawai'ian song. Now that isn't to say that I'm not craving some Mexican food right now (specifically a fried avocado, but I don't know where to get that besides La Playa in Corpus Christi, TX), but in general this recording surprised me. I should really stop being surprised at this point though, because so many of these recordings shock me with their incredible sound, in genres I had never even considered.<br /><br />Many of the albums I listen to can be found on <a href="http://listen.grooveshark.com/">Grooveshark</a>, one of my favorite websites ever. I discovered it a few years ago when it first came out, and now it seems pretty mainstream with ads for Rock Band interfaced right into the player, so hopefully it won't go the way of so many websites I have loved before and disappear. I used to use Lala.com, but iTunes just bought them out last month, so my classical music hookup is gone now, and classical is very difficult to find on Grooveshark. I know eventually I will have to start paying money to finish this list, first with an account to Napster or Rhapsody to stream music, and then eventually buying the very rare albums. But for now, free streaming and the library are the keys to making it through most of the book. I know the above playlist is glitchy, but if you open it in Grooveshark you can rearrange the tracks and eventually they will all play. <br /><br />Buy <a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=6495492&postID=6954783579495451932" com="" o="" asin="" b00006bxkb="" mockerybird="" ref="nosim"">Viva El Mariachi!</a> on AmazonAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02858966776220305815noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6495492.post-6395978346906021432009-05-24T13:53:00.001-07:002009-05-24T13:56:06.056-07:00High School Kids Kill the Radio StarLove this. Originally seen <a href="http://www.thestureidexperiment.com/2009/05/afternoon-video-middleschool-buskers.html">here</a>. <a href="http://www.myspace.com/thewrongtrousers">Here</a>'s their myspace page. Haven't had a chance to hear their other stuff, but I thought this video deserved to be shown, because it just makes me happy.<br /><br /><object width="320" height="265"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/VSUX9byu6NY&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/VSUX9byu6NY&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="320" height="265"></embed></object>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02858966776220305815noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6495492.post-65310592206966056702009-04-22T06:50:00.003-07:002009-04-22T06:53:39.545-07:00New Lonely Forest Album Streamed for Your Pleasure<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.bbrecordings.com/imgs/LFcoverstream.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 293px; height: 285px;" src="http://www.bbrecordings.com/imgs/LFcoverstream.JPG" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />So this band I've been talking about for over a year finally released a new album yesterday, and I forgot. The plan was to buy it in the morning on iTunes and have it on the ipod by the time I left for work, which then became today's plan because of how crazy yesterday was. So I will not be able to tell you what I think til later (but hopes are very high for a good one), but you can check it out for yourself. A little try before you buy, if you will.<br /><br /><a href="http://bbrecordings.com/promo/pages/thelonelyforest_wesingthebodyelectric.htm">We Sing the Body Electric</a><br /><br />Hope you enjoy it and support a great local band. Oh, and see them in Seattle this Friday (since I will be out of town... damn)Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02858966776220305815noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6495492.post-53860746541712080302009-04-05T10:01:00.004-07:002009-04-05T16:40:12.027-07:00Mike's 104 Songs to Hear Before You Die: Song #8<div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos-c.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-snc1/v2239/89/109/12005963/n12005963_31898402_4889.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 339px; height: 254px;" src="http://photos-c.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-snc1/v2239/89/109/12005963/n12005963_31898402_4889.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Photo by Mike<br /></div><br /><span style="font-size:180%;">Lynyrd Skynyrd - Free Bird</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:180%;">Who:</span> Lynyrd Skynyrd, the kings of Southern rock.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:180%;">What:</span> Free Bird, over 9 minutes of rock ballad, blazing glory. The song is on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time and is VH1's 26th Best Hard Rock Song<br /><br /><span style="font-size:180%;">When:</span> 1973, although I heard it on the radio in the 80's probably. I liked the song, but I don't think it was until 2005, and, this is not a joke, the movie <span style="font-style: italic;">Elizabethtown,</span><span> when the band Ruckus (which mostly consisted of My Morning Jacket) plays it at the end of the film. All of a sudden I realized why people yell it out at concerts-- it's that good.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:180%;">Where:</span> Jacksonville, Florida. I have been to the bar, Free Bird's, to see a concert before. Jax loves their Skynyrd<br /><br /><span style="font-size:180%;">Why:</span> Ok, I don't have to say too much about this one, because I think it is a lot cliched for me to put this on my list, but man, 5 minute, 3-guitar solos that have that much power don't come around very often. Free Bird is listed 3rd on Guitar World's 100 Greatest Guitar solos of all time, but I think that's ridiculous. It's #1 for me without a doubt. This is one of only 3 songs my my list greater than 7 minutes long-- most songs just can't hold your attention for that long. Anyways, you've probably heard the song before, but try listening with fresh ears and see if you can deny loving it.<br /></span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">If I leave here tomorrow</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Would you still remember me?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">For I must be travelling on, now,</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">cause theres too many places Ive got to see.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">But, if I stayed here with you, girl,</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Things just couldnt be the same.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">cause Im as free as a bird now,</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">And this bird you can not change.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Lord knows, I cant change.</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Bye, bye, its been a sweet love.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Though this feeling I cant change.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">But please dont take it badly,</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">cause lord knows Im to blame.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">But, if I stayed here with you girl,</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Things just couldnt be the same.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Cause Im as free as a bird now,</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">And this bird youll never change.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">And this bird you can not change.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Lord knows, I cant change.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Lord help me, I cant change.</span><br /><br />Here are all the songs covered so far<br /><object width="250" height="400"> <param name="movie" value="http://listen.grooveshark.com/widget.swf"> <param name="wmode" value="window"> <param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"> <param name="flashvars" value="hostname=cowbell.grooveshark.com&widgetID=7407058&style=metal&bbg=f5e4df&bfg=050200&bt=610a0a&bth=f5e4df&pbg=610a0a&pbgh=050200&pfg=f5e4df&pfgh=610a0a&si=610a0a&lbg=610a0a&lbgh=050200&lfg=f5e4df&lfgh=610a0a&sb=610a0a&sbh=050200&p=0"> <embed src="http://listen.grooveshark.com/widget.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" flashvars="hostname=cowbell.grooveshark.com&widgetID=7407058&style=metal&bbg=f5e4df&bfg=050200&bt=610a0a&bth=f5e4df&pbg=610a0a&pbgh=050200&pfg=f5e4df&pfgh=610a0a&si=610a0a&lbg=610a0a&lbgh=050200&lfg=f5e4df&lfgh=610a0a&sb=610a0a&sbh=050200&p=0" allowscriptaccess="always" wmode="window" width="250" height="400"></embed></object><br /><br />...plus some free bird covers- the Built to Spill guitar solo rocks- I need to get ahold of some more of their CDs<br /><br /><object width="250" height="400"> <param name="movie" value="http://listen.grooveshark.com/widget.swf"> <param name="wmode" value="window"> <param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"> <param name="flashvars" value="hostname=cowbell.grooveshark.com&widgetID=7407220&style=metal&bbg=B2C2E6&bfg=FBF5D3&bt=012C5F&bth=B2C2E6&pbg=012C5F&pbgh=FBF5D3&pfg=B2C2E6&pfgh=012C5F&si=012C5F&lbg=012C5F&lbgh=FBF5D3&lfg=B2C2E6&lfgh=012C5F&sb=012C5F&sbh=FBF5D3&p=0"> <embed src="http://listen.grooveshark.com/widget.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" flashvars="hostname=cowbell.grooveshark.com&widgetID=7407220&style=metal&bbg=B2C2E6&bfg=FBF5D3&bt=012C5F&bth=B2C2E6&pbg=012C5F&pbgh=FBF5D3&pfg=B2C2E6&pfgh=012C5F&si=012C5F&lbg=012C5F&lbgh=FBF5D3&lfg=B2C2E6&lfgh=012C5F&sb=012C5F&sbh=FBF5D3&p=0" allowscriptaccess="always" wmode="window" width="250" height="400"></embed></object><br /><br /><span><br />Here are the previous posts on my list:<br /></span><a href="http://icouldbethewalrus.blogspot.com/2008/11/typical-random-update.html">#1) The Smashing Pumpkins - Muzzle</a> (for teaching me how to be a teenager)<br /><a href="http://icouldbethewalrus.blogspot.com/2009/02/mikes-104-songs-to-hear-before-you-die.html">#2) Sufjan Stevens - Vito's Ordination Song</a> (beautiful sounds, transcendent lyrics)<br /><a href="http://icouldbethewalrus.blogspot.com/2009/02/mikes-104-songs-to-hear-before-you-die_25.html">#3) They Might Be Giants - Number Three</a> (goofy lyrics, unstoppable foot-tapping fun)<br /><a href="http://icouldbethewalrus.blogspot.com/2009/03/so-im-finally-on-to-number-four-in-my.html">#4) Counting Crows - Four Days</a> (beautiful harmonies, sweet metaphors)<br /><a href="http://icouldbethewalrus.blogspot.com/2009/03/mikes-104-songs-to-hear-before-you-die.html">#5) Drive-By Truckers - Two Daughters and a Beautiful Wife</a> (heartwrenching lyrics, heartstring pulling slide guitar)<br /><a href="http://icouldbethewalrus.blogspot.com/2009/03/mikes-104-songs-to-hear-before-you-die_28.html">#6) Architecture in Helsinki - It'5!</a> (fun!)<br /><a href="http://icouldbethewalrus.blogspot.com/2009/03/mikes-104-songs-to-hear-before-you-die_30.html">#7) The Thermals - Power Doesn't Run On Nothing</a> (intensity, indignation, insanely good)<br /><br />And John87's list:<br /><a href="http://icouldbethewalrus.blogspot.com/2009/03/100-of-my-own-songs-ive-heard-that.html">#100) Sonic Youth- The Diamond Sea</a><br /><a href="http://icouldbethewalrus.blogspot.com/2009/03/song-99-outa-100-to-check-into-your.html">#99) Ani Difranco - Both Hands (Live)</a><br /><a href="http://icouldbethewalrus.blogspot.com/2009/03/trying-to-catch-up-to-mikes-list-so.html">#98) Matthew Sweet - Girlfriend</a><br /><a href="http://icouldbethewalrus.blogspot.com/2009/03/97-on-my-list-of-songs-yah-should-know.html">#97) Eels - P.S. You Rock My World</a><br /><a href="http://icouldbethewalrus.blogspot.com/2009/03/ha-ha-im-now-ahead-of-you-mikeheres-my.html">#96) Vienna Teng - City Hall</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02858966776220305815noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6495492.post-50170809756776424682009-03-30T14:59:00.006-07:002009-03-31T21:46:26.122-07:00Mike's 104 Songs to Hear Before You Die: Song #7<div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos-f.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-sf2p/v72/89/109/12005963/n12005963_30794805_4841.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 406px; height: 270px;" src="http://photos-f.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-sf2p/v72/89/109/12005963/n12005963_30794805_4841.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Photo by Mike<br /></div><div><br /><br />Read a review yesterday that prompted me to pick this song, as the band just released a new album this year.</div><br /><div> </div><br /><div>Here it is, numba 7:</div><br /><div> </div><br /><div><span style="font-size:180%;">The Thermals - Power Doesn't Run On Nothing</span></div><br /><div> </div><br /><div><span style="font-size:180%;">Who:</span> The Thermals, Power Trio from Portland, OR</div><br /><div> </div><br /><div><span style="font-size:180%;">What:</span> " Power Doesn't Run On Nothing, from their 2006 breakout album <em>The Body, The Blood, The Machine</em>, loosely based on a "young couple who must flee a United States governed byfascist faux-Christians."</div><br /><div> </div><br /><div><span style="font-size:180%;">When:</span> '06, although I probably heard it in '07 (thanks to John87), but it sounds like it came from a distopic near-future, thanks to its "no-fi" production and paranoid lyrics.</div><br /><div> </div><br /><div><span style="font-size:180%;">Where:</span> U.S. I suppose</div><br /><div> </div><br /><div><span style="font-size:180%;">Why:</span> Righteous indignation pounded into your ears whether you like it or not, baby! The Thermals are not afraid to take on religion and government throughout this album, but this song is their most effective. The description of the U.S. as "just a child," and "old as hell," both ring true just a minute apart. The immediacy of Thermals' singer Hutch Harris' voice drives the song forward. When he shouts "we need the land you're standing on, so let's go!" you can see him leading the charge. That's pretty much it for this song- hardcore lyrics and righteous indignation- but it definitely makes a strong point using very little more than some power chords and shouting. If you like it, check out the whole album (none of the songs standout quite the way this one does) or check out their new one (that I believe I will be purchasing and reviewing soon, based on the strength of the title track) <em>Now We Can See</em>.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">We are just a child<br /></span> <span style="font-style: italic;">we are just a child<br /></span> <span style="font-style: italic;">we are wide awake<br /></span> <span style="font-style: italic;">but our legs are shaky</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"> we're unaware</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"> we're hyper-active</span> <span style="font-style: italic;"><br />we stare into space<br />with grins on our faces</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"> so give us what we're asking<br />for</span> <span style="font-style: italic;"> cause either way,<br />we're gonna take it</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"> our power doesn't run on nothing</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"> we need the land you're standing on<br />so lets go</span> <span style="font-style: italic;"><br />move it</span> <span style="font-style: italic;"><br /><br />we are old as hell</span> <span style="font-style: italic;"><br />we are old and tell<br />the children</span> <span style="font-style: italic;"> when to kill<br />and when to sit still</span> <span style="font-style: italic;"><br />everyone doing what we say</span> <span style="font-style: italic;"><br />till our dying day,<br />till our breath is empty</span> <span style="font-style: italic;"><br />so give us what we're asking<br />for</span> <span style="font-style: italic;"> cause either way we're gonna take it</span> <span style="font-style: italic;"><br />our power doesn't run on nothing</span> <span style="font-style: italic;"><br />we need the land you're standing on<br />so</span> <span style="font-style: italic;"> lets go</span> <span style="font-style: italic;"><br />move it</span> <span style="font-style: italic;"><br />yeah you need to let it go</span> <span style="font-style: italic;"><br />move it</span> <span style="font-style: italic;"><br />yeah we're, more equal,</span> <span style="font-style: italic;"><br />we'll move you people,</span> <span style="font-style: italic;"><br />off the planet cause goddamn we need the fuel</span> <span style="font-style: italic;"><br /><br />so, so let the beat roll over,</span> <span style="font-style: italic;"><br />the beat roll over,<br />everyone in line, one in line</span> <span style="font-style: italic;"><br />so, so let the beat roll over,</span> <span style="font-style: italic;"><br />the beat roll over,<br />everyone in line</span> <span style="font-style: italic;"> one at a time</span> <span style="font-style: italic;"><br />they'll give us what we're asking for,</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">cause God is with us, and our God's the richest</span> <span style="font-style: italic;"><br />our power doesn't run on nothing,</span> <span style="font-style: italic;"><br />it runs on blood,</span> <span style="font-style: italic;"> and blood is easy to obtain<br />when you have no shame</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"> when you have no shame</span> <span style="font-style: italic;"><br />so let the sun bathe</span> <span style="font-style: italic;"><br />let the sun bathe</span> <span style="font-style: italic;"><br />we'll still have life,<br />we'll burn even brighter</span> <span style="font-style: italic;"><br />we'll drain the well, turn all to hell,</span> <span style="font-style: italic;"><br />leave the earth's surface to the worthless dirt</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">let the beat roll over,<br />let the beat roll over,</span> <span style="font-style: italic;"><br />to everyone in mind,<br />everyone in line</span> <span style="font-style: italic;"><br />you think we'll cease?</span> <span style="font-style: italic;"><br />to see a reason,</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"> to think it's fair?</span> <span style="font-style: italic;"><br />to think it's fair,</span> <span style="font-style: italic;"><br />to think we care?</span><br /><br />Here is the song with all the previous songs on my list:<br /><object width="250" height="400"> <param name="movie" value="http://listen.grooveshark.com/widget.swf"> <param name="wmode" value="window"> <param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"> <param name="flashvars" value="hostname=cowbell.grooveshark.com&widgetID=7347092&style=metal&bbg=5e5757&bfg=D6D6D6&bt=000847&bth=000000&pbg=0c0847&pbgh=D6D6D6&pfg=FFFFFF&pfgh=000847&si=7A7A7A&lbg=000847&lbgh=5e5e57&lfg=FFFFFF&lfgh=000847&sb=000847&sbh=D6D6D6&p=0"> <embed src="http://listen.grooveshark.com/widget.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" flashvars="hostname=cowbell.grooveshark.com&widgetID=7347092&style=metal&bbg=5e5757&bfg=D6D6D6&bt=000847&bth=000000&pbg=0c0847&pbgh=D6D6D6&pfg=FFFFFF&pfgh=000847&si=7A7A7A&lbg=000847&lbgh=5e5e57&lfg=FFFFFF&lfgh=000847&sb=000847&sbh=D6D6D6&p=0" allowscriptaccess="always" wmode="window" width="250" height="400"></embed></object><br /><br /><br /></div><br />Previous songs on my list:<br /><a href="http://icouldbethewalrus.blogspot.com/2008/11/typical-random-update.html">#1) The Smashing Pumpkins - Muzzle</a> (for teaching me how to be a teenager)<br /><a href="http://icouldbethewalrus.blogspot.com/2009/02/mikes-104-songs-to-hear-before-you-die.html">#2) Sufjan Stevens - Vito's Ordination Song</a> (beautiful sounds, transcendent lyrics)<br /><a href="http://icouldbethewalrus.blogspot.com/2009/02/mikes-104-songs-to-hear-before-you-die_25.html">#3) They Might Be Giants - Number Three</a> (goofy lyrics, unstoppable foot-tapping fun)<br /><a href="http://icouldbethewalrus.blogspot.com/2009/03/so-im-finally-on-to-number-four-in-my.html">#4) Counting Crows - Four Days</a> (beautiful harmonies, sweet metaphors)<br /><a href="http://icouldbethewalrus.blogspot.com/2009/03/mikes-104-songs-to-hear-before-you-die.html">#5) Drive-By Truckers - Two Daughters and a Beautiful Wife</a> (heartwrenching lyrics, heartstring pulling slide guitar)<br /><a href="http://icouldbethewalrus.blogspot.com/2009/03/mikes-104-songs-to-hear-before-you-die_28.html">#6) Architecture in Helsinki - It'5!</a> (fun!)<br /><br />And John87's list:<br /><a href="http://icouldbethewalrus.blogspot.com/2009/03/100-of-my-own-songs-ive-heard-that.html">#100) Sonic Youth- The Diamond Sea</a><br /><a href="http://icouldbethewalrus.blogspot.com/2009/03/song-99-outa-100-to-check-into-your.html">#99) Ani Difranco - Both Hands (Live)</a><br /><a href="http://icouldbethewalrus.blogspot.com/2009/03/trying-to-catch-up-to-mikes-list-so.html">#98) Matthew Sweet - Girlfriend</a><br /><a href="http://icouldbethewalrus.blogspot.com/2009/03/97-on-my-list-of-songs-yah-should-know.html">#97) Eels - P.S. You Rock My World</a><br /><a href="http://icouldbethewalrus.blogspot.com/2009/03/ha-ha-im-now-ahead-of-you-mikeheres-my.html">#96) Vienna Teng - City Hall</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02858966776220305815noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6495492.post-42599033242613230912009-03-28T17:30:00.002-07:002009-03-28T17:33:23.823-07:00Mike's 104 Songs to Hear Before You Die: Song #6<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos-a.ll.facebook.com/photos-ll-sf2p/v76/89/109/12005963/n12005963_30794544_6783.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 448px; height: 334px;" src="http://photos-a.ll.facebook.com/photos-ll-sf2p/v76/89/109/12005963/n12005963_30794544_6783.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br />By the way, John, you are not ahead. You've done 5 songs- this is my 6th. So haHA sir, haHA. Anyways, in case you aren't familiar<br /><br /><a href="http://icouldbethewalrus.blogspot.com/2008/11/typical-random-update.html">#1) The Smashing Pumpkins - Muzzle</a> (for teaching me how to be a teenager)<br /><a href="http://icouldbethewalrus.blogspot.com/2009/02/mikes-104-songs-to-hear-before-you-die.html">#2) Sufjan Stevens - Vito's Ordination Song</a> (beautiful sounds, transcendent lyrics)<br /><a href="http://icouldbethewalrus.blogspot.com/2009/02/mikes-104-songs-to-hear-before-you-die_25.html">#3) They Might Be Giants - Number Three</a> (goofy lyrics, unstoppable foot-tapping fun)<br /><a href="http://icouldbethewalrus.blogspot.com/2009/03/so-im-finally-on-to-number-four-in-my.html">#4) Counting Crows - Four Days</a> (beautiful harmonies, sweet metaphors)<br /><a href="http://icouldbethewalrus.blogspot.com/2009/03/mikes-104-songs-to-hear-before-you-die.html">#5) Drive-By Truckers - Two Daughters and a Beautiful Wife</a> (heartwrenching lyrics, heartstring pulling slide guitar)<br /><br />And John87's list:<br /><a href="http://icouldbethewalrus.blogspot.com/2009/03/100-of-my-own-songs-ive-heard-that.html">#100) Sonic Youth- The Diamond Sea</a><br /><a href="http://icouldbethewalrus.blogspot.com/2009/03/song-99-outa-100-to-check-into-your.html">#99) Ani Difranco - Both Hands (Live)</a><br /><a href="http://icouldbethewalrus.blogspot.com/2009/03/trying-to-catch-up-to-mikes-list-so.html">#98) Matthew Sweet - Girlfriend</a><br /><a href="http://icouldbethewalrus.blogspot.com/2009/03/97-on-my-list-of-songs-yah-should-know.html">#97) Eels - P.S. You Rock My World</a><br /><a href="http://icouldbethewalrus.blogspot.com/2009/03/ha-ha-im-now-ahead-of-you-mikeheres-my.html">#96) Vienna Teng - City Hall</a><br /><br />Song Numero 6:<br /><br /><span style="font-size:180%;">Architecture in Helsinki - It'5!</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:180%;">Who:</span> Architecture in Helsinki<br /><br /><span style="font-size:180%;">What:</span> It'5! A delightful little pop thing... I can't describe it really<br /><br /><span style="font-size:180%;">When:</span> 2005 on their second album (that I thought was their debut) In Case We Die<br /><br /><span style="font-size:180%;">Where:</span> Australia, not Helsinki<br /><br /><span style="font-size:180%;">Why:</span> This one came on in the car today and I was like, "oh man, I love this song". Then I tried to think of why I love this song, and I just don't know. It might be the video that Dan sent me soon after the album came out. It might be the falsetto (I'm a sucker for falsetto). Or maybe it's just the frantic pace, the crazy lyrics, the random guitar and horn licks, the sheer fun of the song. The lyrics are actually a bit of a downer, but there's just so much joy in the sound of this song. And you know, this was also probably my first foray into indie pop. I think at the time this song came out I had heard a lot of new music, like indie rock, alt-country, alt-folk, brit rap, etc, but I hadn't heard any of the pop genre of the indie side, except maybe a little Polyphonic Spree, which I considered to be something all its own. So maybe that was why I latched onto this song. But anyways, it's a fun song, I highly recommend this album (much better than the debut) but especially this song is just... well, FUN.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Stranger danger,</span> <span style="font-style: italic;"><br />Danger stranger,</span> <span style="font-style: italic;"><br />When you gonna follow through?</span> <span style="font-style: italic;"><br /><br />The mistake you don't make,</span> <span style="font-style: italic;"><br />Or the rain cloud covers above your house.</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"> Steal the feelings,</span> <span style="font-style: italic;"><br />Don't focuse on the flames girl.</span> <span style="font-style: italic;"><br />Have I failed to impress you?</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"> Could've sworn that wine</span> <span style="font-style: italic;"><br />And one and four made two,</span> <span style="font-style: italic;"><br />But it's 5!</span> <span style="font-style: italic;"><br />It's 5!</span> <span style="font-style: italic;"><br /><br />Can I ride with you</span> <span style="font-style: italic;"><br />Until the sunset gets all red?</span> <span style="font-style: italic;"><br />And we'll get chased by the moon</span> <span style="font-style: italic;"><br /><br />Hope the passion don't fade</span> <span style="font-style: italic;"><br />Since you decided he's your spouse.</span> <span style="font-style: italic;"><br />Wheeling, dealing,</span> <span style="font-style: italic;"><br />Joking things will change girl.</span> <span style="font-style: italic;"><br />Have I failed to impress you?</span> <span style="font-style: italic;"><br />Could've sworn that wine</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"> And one and four made two,</span> <span style="font-style: italic;"><br />But it's 5!</span> <span style="font-style: italic;"><br />It is 5!</span><br /><br /><object height="265" width="320"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/otWXEb8KGKg&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/otWXEb8KGKg&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="265" width="320"></embed></object>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02858966776220305815noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6495492.post-91452604323200784252009-03-28T11:28:00.002-07:002009-03-28T11:58:57.663-07:00I'm gonna get all crotchety old man on your asses for a bitOk I just have a couple of things I want to bitch about for awhile. The Intranets blog/facebook/myspace/twitter is the best way for someone with an opinion to make themselves feel important so I'm going to bitch here. Though there will be little to no consequence.<br /><br /> Anyway. Ok first of is Zune. Zune's are fucking ridiculous. My mind can not wrap around what kind of shit product this is. Not a good kind of shit either. The kind of shit you find in someone elses toilet when you lift up the seat, or stadium communal bathroom shit. I don't get how microsoft completly said fuck you to the macintosh ipod business model and product structure. How can they possibly hope to even compete against that juggernaut if they don't even atempt to make the product similar to the i-pod aka the universal mp3 play. We don't even call them mp3 players, everything is an ipod now.<br /> The reason i complain about this is my sister. She got a zune some time ago for some insane reason. I think she thought it would be cool to fuck the man by not joining the cult of ipod. Well what she got was fucked. 2 years she's had it and has not been able to figure out how to add or remove usic from it. Her friend put a couple of things on and now she's sick of all the albums. I being the thoughtful music and technological genius that i am decided to help her out and share some of my hard "bought" music. 2 weeks it took me of trying to get this thing to work. 2 weeks to get a microsoft product to run on windows. And then when i finally did i had to look up websites on how to run the damn thing. Trust me there's a lot of websites out there for zune help...probablly more then actual zunes in circulation. Anyway now on the day of her birthday i'm finally getting the damn thing filled up with music. Even this is hard. You have to find the folders you want the zune software to read, then the zune folder scans everything and this takes forever then you have to go through the list of scanned folders to find what you want to add and then add it and then that takes forever. So ridiculous.<br /><br />Anyway don't buy a zune don't support it and don't even think that it has any right to exist in the ipod world.God bless mac and their monopoly on mp3 players. This company not only makes a product that is affordable, easy to use, technologically sound, diverse and stylish...they constantlly are updatig every version of their brand. From hardware to software they're totally focused on improvements. So fuck you microsoft and really really from the deepest darkest diseased part of my soul fuck you zune.<br /><br />Oh and happy 25th B-day Andrea<br /><br /><a href="http://g4tv.com/attackoftheshow/aroundthenet/66493/Cat-Poo-One-Zune-Warehouse.html">http://g4tv.com/attackoftheshow/aroundthenet/66493/Cat-Poo-One-Zune-Warehouse.html</a><br /><br />ok the part of the above link's clip that's relevant to my rant is about halfway through the clip. The whole clip is still funny. But i love olivia's take on the zune. My mom actually likes this show too.It's hillarious especially their Around the Net segments.John 87http://www.blogger.com/profile/01980595654172335943noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6495492.post-5275058309213936512009-03-26T15:48:00.003-07:002009-03-26T16:20:53.278-07:00DOOM DOOM DOOM the supervillainAHH DOOM ( aka Mf Doom aka Viktor Vaughn aka 90 other aliases) you make me happy. I don't know what it is about this guy but I love his albums more then I should. I think it's just the sense of fun he has in his music. Whatever it is his albums are always good if not great...and for the most part that goes for his new album Born Like This.<div><br /></div><div>Ok history lesson cause i assume most people don't have the whole story on DOOM. DOOM is a rapper/producer/supervillain. He just recentlly changed his name from MF (metal face/metal finger) Doom to just DOOM. DOOM always wears a mask much like Dr. Doom in the fantastic four comic/terrible movie. Madvillainy His collaboration with producer Madlib is one of the best rap albums of the past decade if not ever.( a 93 on metacritic and #6 on it's highest reviewed albums ever) He also has some great work as Viktor Vaughn (Dr. Doom's pre crazy guy name) and just MF. Doom. Strangest of all he did an album with producer danger mouse, half of gnarles barkley, under the name DangerDoom which was released by cartoon networks adult swim and uses samples from it's classic shows...Yes it's as amazing and crazy as it sounds. </div><div><br /></div><div>Okay the point here is DOOM is an amazing rapper. In terms of flow and wordplay there's hardly anyone who's as good. He's got a laid back but quick attack. Almost all his albums use samples to create a background story in every album and Born Like This is similar though it creates more atmosphere than story. Born Like This is DOOM's first album since 2006 i think. It's been a long time coming though ( I have to say I'm anxiously awaiting the rumored Madvillainy 2). He seems a little strained here and the album does seem a bit forced. There were rumors that he'd died and someone else had simply put on his mask...hence the name change...and at first listen i kind of thought he sounded a bit different... slower and not as laid back. This isn't to say this is a bad album. There's a lot of great moments and some really good songs. I really liked the guest rappers Tony Stark (aka Ghostface Killer taking iron man's name) and Empress Sharrh on Angelz and Still Dope respectively. Angelz is supposed to be on a DOOM Ghostface collaboration, which from this song I hope is coming out. </div><div><br /></div><div>In the end this is an okay release...though an ok release from DOOM is still better then most. It's sort of like a comic book character who's story gets passed to a new writer and artist. It's a different comic and at first you long for the old writer to come back before you realize the characters themselves hold up a mediocre effort. If your a DOOM fan I'd suggest picking it up, if your not versed in his Supervillainy then you should start out with Madvillainy or DangerDoom. Either way DOOm is one of the premiere artist in underground hip hop and worth hearing.</div>John 87http://www.blogger.com/profile/01980595654172335943noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6495492.post-32392919108656071552009-03-26T09:29:00.003-07:002009-03-26T10:18:07.266-07:00Ha ha I'm now ahead of you mike...Here's my #96 song to check outArtist: Vienna Teng<br /><br />Album: Dreamig through the Noise<br /><br />Song: City Hall<br /><br />Why: Ok another great album. It was definetally overlooked and I think unfairly clumped in with similar girl singer songwritters of the time. I bought, yes bought, this album after I heard an interview with Teng on NPR...pretentious indie kid alert. It struck me as a sort of relaxing piano led female vocal album. After a couple of listens I found it to be a lot more then that. There's some phenominal lyrics, great piano and beautiful melodies.<br /><br />I picked City hall because of it's complex message of modern love. Essentially this song is about a lesbian couple in love going to city hall to get their marriage license. There's a crowd there so you get the feeling this is happening the day that a city, say San Fran where gay marriage is finally made legal. They've been waiting for years to commit to each other and finally they get the news they can and they drive 500 miles to city hall where it can be done...(i would walk 500 miles and i would walk 500 more just to be the man who'd walk oe thousand miles to be with you). There's just this great sense of happiness in the crowd. Everyone is going to finally be given the rights they want. What really hits home is the final few lyrics:<br /><div align="center"> </div><div align="center">Ten years waiting for this moment of fate, </div><div align="center">when we say the words and sign our names, </div><div align="center">if they take it away again some day, </div><div align="center">this beautiful thing won't change.</div><div align="left"> </div><div align="left">Man that's just tearjerking.This song obviouslly has a big impact nowadays with that ridiculous prop 8 assing in san fran and all those lovely happy couples getting their love marginalised. I could rant and rave about prop 8, but this is about music so I won't. The point is this: Love is love no matter who it's between. This song could easily hit your local top 40 radio stations and people wouldn't see it more then just a love song and that's what i think adds such a punch to it.</div><div align="left"> </div><div align="left">So way to go ms. Mrs. Miss Vienna Teng. A great love song full of joy and happiness with a very political shade of grey to it. That's why I pick this song as one to check out. Yeahy.</div><br /><br /><object width="250" height="40"> <param name="movie" value="http://listen.grooveshark.com/songWidget.swf"></param> <param name="wmode" value="window"></param> <param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"></param> <param name="flashvars" value="hostname=cowbell.grooveshark.com&widgetID=7271812&style=metal&p=0"></param> <embed src="http://listen.grooveshark.com/songWidget.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="250" height="40" flashvars="hostname=cowbell.grooveshark.com&widgetID=7271812&style=metal&p=0" allowScriptAccess="always" wmode="window"></embed></object>John 87http://www.blogger.com/profile/01980595654172335943noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6495492.post-74198855953210103962009-03-25T10:51:00.003-07:002009-03-26T10:12:45.482-07:00#97 on my list of songs yah should know...Song: p.s. You rock My World<br /><br />Band: Eels<br /><br />Album: Electro Shock Blues<br /><br />Why:<br /> Ok again an album that you should own. Definetally on my top ten all time favorite albums, probablly around 3. On it's own to anyone this album is a phenominal example of a talented artist painting his life into an album. Usually I don't really care about the personal lives of bands I like, but this a special oocasion because the album is boosted by knowing what E the main Eels member was going through in his life. Within about 12 months E's sister commited suicide and I believe he found her dead in the bathroom, the opening track is 'Elizabeth on the Bathroom Floor'. Then his mother died of cancer...a lot of the songs tie into cancer and her death, but Dead of Winter is really discriptive. So this album is kind of a downer. E doesn't hold back at all in exploring his emotions and the sort of craziness that takes over your life during these times.<br /><br />I really have sort of assimilated this album into my conciousness more then any other I know. During low points in my life electro shock blues has been a comforting security blanket and a sort of passing and active reminder that shit, gloriouslly opressing and downright 'unfair' shit happens. I always used to laugh at people who talk about albums that helpped them get better or when you hear someone thank an artist for helpping them. I kind of found that cheesy. Well I'll thank you mister E, you've definetally helpped me threw a jam opr two in my time.<br /><br />So why p.s. you rock my world? Well it's the closing track and it's just a great ending to this whole album. In a moviue where everything is going wrong you sort of expect a holywood ending where all situations are resolved and smiles creep across the actors faces. Well anyone living through bad times knows that this sort of doesn't happen. And it doesn't here. The whole song sort of paints a picture of a time post tradgedy where your kind of just starting to go through your normal routines again, but still feeling that change in your life. There's lots of great lines: 'I was at a funeral the day I realised I wanted to spend my life with you' 'I don't know where we're going I don't know what we'll do' are a few. But the best , and what really hit me in the head after the whole albums feel was the last lines E sings... '...and how a careful man tries to dodge the bullets while a happy man takes a walk, and maybe it's time to live' So great. There's no yeah I'm a better person and I realise I'm gonna be ok and lfe is wonderful. That never happens. Instead you gat a sort of realization that you can't change the past and that worrying about the future is sort of futile so just live. But he doesn't stand up and shout I'm gonna live better. It's more okay I'm gonna try. That makes the song so much more realistic and powerful. On the eels next album in the opener Grace Kelly Blues E finishes the song by saying ' and me I'm feeling pretty good as of now. I'm not so sure when I got here or how. Sun melting the fake smile away. I think you know I'll be okay." So the character is getting by and trying to smile.<br /><br />I always kind of cringe at really emotional songs sung or performed by people who don't seem honest or talented enough to convey their feelings. On Electro shock blues and p.s. you rck my world E and the Eels really do a great job of conveying a specific set of honest feelings and emotions that people go through. So you should listen to it. there nuff said.<br /><br /><object width="250" height="40"> <param name="movie" value="http://listen.grooveshark.com/songWidget.swf"></param> <param name="wmode" value="window"></param> <param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"></param> <param name="flashvars" value="hostname=cowbell.grooveshark.com&widgetID=7271756&style=metal&p=0"></param> <embed src="http://listen.grooveshark.com/songWidget.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="250" height="40" flashvars="hostname=cowbell.grooveshark.com&widgetID=7271756&style=metal&p=0" allowScriptAccess="always" wmode="window"></embed></object>John 87http://www.blogger.com/profile/01980595654172335943noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6495492.post-16429545819754548412009-03-24T14:30:00.003-07:002009-03-24T20:41:38.536-07:00Trying to catch up to Mike's list so that we meet at 50/51...so here's #98 on my listSong: Girlfriend<br /><br />Artist: Matthew Sweet<br /><br />Album: Girlfriend<br /><br />Why: Well I sort of turned it on earlier today and thought...Hey I love this song and should write about it on the blog.<br /><br />Okay first the album. Girlfriend is a stone cold unargueable Classic. Classic. Like one of the best albums ever and should and most of the times is on top albums of all time. Of course this is one that gets the shaft. There's a ton of stuff going on here and I think one of the big reasons why Sweet never had as huge a success as he should (though he did have 3 pretty big singles and if you listen to "Sick of Myself" off of 100% fun you'll reecognise him) is because of his sort of classic rock and alterna 90's mix. It's not really cool on either side. The people who like guitar heavy classic rock will probablly find it to young and people in love with that time periods alterna rock will probablly find the album to heavy in the old styles. But now...now there's no reason why not to go back and check out this album. It's gorgeous and well thought out and fun.<br /><br />Why i love the song Girlfriend. Well I love the video and actually still sort of visualise it now when I hear the song 10 years or so later. <a href="http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x691y_matthew-sweet-girlfriend_music">http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x691y_matthew-sweet-girlfriend_music</a><br /><div><object width="480" height="348"><param name="movie" value="http://www.dailymotion.com/swf/x691y_matthew-sweet-girlfriend_music&related=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.dailymotion.com/swf/x691y_matthew-sweet-girlfriend_music&related=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="480" height="348" allowFullScreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always"></embed></object><br /><b><a href="http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x691y_matthew-sweet-girlfriend_music">Matthew Sweet - Girlfriend</a></b><br /><i>Uploaded by <a href="http://www.dailymotion.com/jesus_lizard">jesus_lizard</a></i></div><br />It's got a phenominal guitar hook, a chorus that get's stuck in your head and it's just plain fun. It's the sort of well thought out fun energetic and skilled music I wish I could hear on the radio nowadays. Unfortunatelly that doesn't happen and instead I kep my I-pod on random, except when me and my mom listen to the Maxwell Show...god I love those guys.John 87http://www.blogger.com/profile/01980595654172335943noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6495492.post-73665590811513528522009-03-24T10:49:00.003-07:002009-03-24T17:01:58.162-07:00Song 99 outa 100 to check into your ears...I kinda like Mike's format of orginization so I'll do it similar.<br /><br />#99<br /><br />Who: Ani Difranco<br /><br />Song: Both Hands (live)<br /><br />Album: Living in Clip<br /><br />Why:<br />Ok there's lots of reasons to check out this song. First off is that you should own this collection. Living in clip is one of the best collections of live music by a phenominal live performer. The way the album is put together is something I loved. There's clips of the band talking, a great introduction to the band, they sort of make up a song on the spot and all the material is Ani's best stuff to that point. In otherwards it's one of those rare live albums that really gives you an accurate simulation of the performers live show instead of just being live versions of material you already own.<br /><br />So why Both Hands....First is the great intro to the song. This building of an orchestrated version of the melody in the song, then it cuts out and it's just Ani strumming and singing. Second I really think this song cuts through the bullshit perception of what people think Ani is and what she really is. Most people have this view that she's just some stereotypical rrriot grrrl singing about woman problems and how much she hates men. And yeah there are those songs, but really Ani is a great guitar player and a phenominal lyricsist (sp?).<br /><br />This song is (atleast my own interpretation (sp?) from listening) is about being in love. The way you fall in love crazy ridiculouslly. The time when your happy all the time and nothing can fuck with the endorphins in your head. This song is the end of one of those relationships. The narrator is thinking of the best time while experiencing the worst times. It's thins sort of complicated lyrics that kept me a fan of ani for so long. It's not just a song about love and not just a song about a break up, it's about breaking up with someone you love and it really captures that.<br /><br />So there you go a great song, don't let your prejudgements get in the way of listening to it.<br /><br /><embed src="http://listen.grooveshark.com/songWidget.swf" width="250" height="40" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="window" allowscriptaccess="always" flashvars="hostname=cowbell.grooveshark.com&widgetID=7256704&style=metal&p=0"></embed><br />PS from Mike: John, you gotta learn how to add the song and the tags, man ( :John 87http://www.blogger.com/profile/01980595654172335943noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6495492.post-47586389352918195952009-03-20T16:02:00.010-07:002009-03-21T11:25:43.941-07:00Mike's 104 Songs to Hear Before You Die: Song #5<div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos-c.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-sf2p/v199/89/109/12005963/n12005963_31432098_3058.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 387px; height: 505px;" src="http://photos-c.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-sf2p/v199/89/109/12005963/n12005963_31432098_3058.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">Photo by Mike<br /></span></div><br /><a href="http://icouldbethewalrus.blogspot.com/2008/11/typical-random-update.html">#1) The Smashing Pumpkins - Muzzle</a> (for teaching me how to be a teenager)<br /><a href="http://icouldbethewalrus.blogspot.com/2009/02/mikes-104-songs-to-hear-before-you-die.html">#2) Sufjan Stevens - Vito's Ordination Song</a> (beautiful sounds, transcendent lyrics)<br /><a href="http://icouldbethewalrus.blogspot.com/2009/02/mikes-104-songs-to-hear-before-you-die_25.html">#3) They Might Be Giants - Number Three</a> (goofy lyrics, unstoppable foot-tapping fun)<br /><a href="http://icouldbethewalrus.blogspot.com/2009/03/so-im-finally-on-to-number-four-in-my.html">#4) Counting Crows - Four Days</a> (beautiful harmonies, sweet metaphors)<br /><br />Ok, let's spin that wheel and see what pops up next... a great song from 2008:<br /><br /><span style="font-size:180%;">Drive-By Truckers - Two Daughters and a Beautiful Wife<br /><br /><span style="font-size:180%;">Who:</span></span><span style="font-size:100%;"> Drive-By Truckers on their release Brighter Than Creation's Dark<br /><br /></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:180%;">What:</span> Two Daughters and a Beautiful Wife, the tale of a man confused to wake up in heaven<br /><br /><span style="font-size:180%;">When:</span> January of 2008. I heard it just before the album was released through hypem, and in conjunction with another song (also on The List) I was compelled to purchase the album<br /><br /><span style="font-size:180%;">Where:</span> Surprisingly I was in Japan - the song sounds like pure Southern U.S. though<br /><br /><span style="font-size:180%;">Why:</span> This is an easy one. Even Dan, who is not a rock fan, and surely not an Alt-Country fan, loved this song on first listen. The storytelling prowess of Patterson Hood rivals my favorite wordsmiths of all time (read my review of <a href="http://icouldbethewalrus.blogspot.com/2008/04/new-music-tuesday-drive-by-truckers.html">Brighter Than Creation's Dark</a>). This is a "goosebump" song if ever I heard one. A man who leaves his "two daughters and a beautiful wife" has his story wonderfully spun by Hood, who is backed by the most hallowed plucked and slide guitar (thanks to new addition to the Truckers, John Neff on pedal steel - insanely glorious improvement) that you will hear this decade. The story pops back and forth between the man wandering around heaven and his friends and family back on Earth. The bittersweetness is almost too much, really, but somehow it never seems over the top like many tear-jerking country songs do these days. I think this one stands on its own merits so I'll just let you hear it and decide. If you like the song check out Brighter Than Creations Dark and then go back and pick up older Drive-By Truckers albums; they are all great.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">When he reached the gates of heaven</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"> He didn’t understand</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"> He knew that folks were coming over</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"> Or was it all a dream?</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"> Was it all a crazy dream?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"> He saw them playing there before him</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"> What were they doing there?</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"> It felt like home, It must be alright</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"> Or is it just a dream?</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"> Is it just a crazy dream?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"> Memories replay before him</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"> All the tiny moments of his life</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"> Laying round in bed on a Saturday morning</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"> Two daughters and a wife</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"> Two daughters and a beautiful wife</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"> Meanwhile on Earth his friends came over</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"> Shocked and horrified</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"> Dolls and flowers at the storefront</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"> Everybody cried</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"> Everybody cried and cried</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"> Is there vengeance up in heaven?</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"> Are those things left behind?</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"> Maybe everyday is Saturday morning</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"> Two daughters and a wife</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"> Two daughters and a beautiful wife</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"> Two daughters and a beautiful wife</span><br /></span> <span style="font-size:100%;"><br />Buy <a href="http://www.newwestrecords.com/DriveByTruckers/">Drive-By Truckers</a><br /><a href="http://www.drivebytruckers.com/">Drive-By Truckers</a><br /></span><br /><br /><object width="250" height="40"> <param name="movie" value="http://listen.grooveshark.com/songWidget.swf"> <param name="wmode" value="window"> <param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"> <param name="flashvars" value="hostname=cowbell.grooveshark.com&widgetID=7225882&style=metal&p=0"> <embed src="http://listen.grooveshark.com/songWidget.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" flashvars="hostname=cowbell.grooveshark.com&widgetID=7225882&style=metal&p=0" allowscriptaccess="always" wmode="window" width="250" height="40"></embed></object>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02858966776220305815noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6495492.post-73437674395352903732009-03-18T16:35:00.004-07:002009-03-20T17:26:46.941-07:00100 of my own songs i've heard that others should hear before they can't use their hearing, but if your deaf already this is pointless sorry.Okay so Mike encouraged me to make my own little list of songs to talk about. I don't really have a list of 100 songs and these aren't necissarily my favorite songs ever. These are more along the lines of what i consider important and ear worthy of just about everyone.<br /><br />#100 The Diamond Sea by Sonic Youth from the album Washing Machine.<br /><br />First off the cover for Washing Machine just instantly sparks a smile and a youthful reminicents of my home in Chardon Ohio. Sonic Youth was my first crack band. I was addicted hardcore. Before there was the internet to steal music there were those idiots at sony BMG. I think that's the name of it. Pay for 1 cd and get 12 free just make sure you buy 20 more cds in the next year. Yeah I never paid them and I opened like 10 accounts. Plus i was like 16 so they totally couldn't prosecute me. Suckers. In one outing I got the entire available sonic youth dicography. It was sort of slim picking and I ended up with Washing Machine, Experimental jet set, sister and Evol.<br />I got into sonic youth thanks in part to another dead stapple of my youth, the wonderful and dearly missed radio station 107.9 the end. You ask anyone from cleveland ohio that was growing up in the mid to late 90's about the end and you will get a sort od doey eyed sad puppy dog stare. That radio station was the shit. The last day they were on me and my friends snuck out of school just to hear the last days broadcast...what did those crazy bastards do...they played It's the end of the world as we know it by R.E.M all fucking day on repeat. Awsome.<br /><br />Anyway to give the end more credit, thatr fucking radio station played all 20 minutes of the diamond sea on a regular basis. Alllllllll 20 minutes of a song that devolves into earsplitting chaos for about 12 minutes. It's noise rock in it's purest feedback drenched glory. they actually played that song on the radio.In a major city. And it wasn't a college radio station.<br /><br />Ok so about the song. It's really the sort of farthest point the band could take reverb symphonies. It hurts to listen to.<a href="http://www.overcompensating.com/posts/20090306.html">http://www.overcompensating.com/posts/20090306.html</a><br />While the album as a whole really isn't a great shinning example of the craftsmanship of SY the song Diamond sea really sort of sums up the reasons why i love this band and why i love ear shredding guitar squeeling noise rock. So there you go, check out the song...<br /><br />....to do a little game till my next song: my next song is off a live album by a female musician and the title has something to do with what i am doing right now.Yeah that's not much of a riddle or a clue really... i couldn't think of anything sorry.John 87http://www.blogger.com/profile/01980595654172335943noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6495492.post-7922416503535717342009-03-18T16:23:00.006-07:002009-03-18T16:47:26.733-07:00Mike's 104 Songs to Hear Before You Die: Song #4<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos-e.ll.facebook.com/photos-ll-sf2p/v76/89/109/12005963/n12005963_30794540_5850.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 448px; height: 341px;" src="http://photos-e.ll.facebook.com/photos-ll-sf2p/v76/89/109/12005963/n12005963_30794540_5850.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:100%;">So I'm finally on to number four in my continuing list of songs that I think you should hear before you die. Remember, these songs are based purely on my deep love for each one. Previous songs, some with a link to download, can be found here:<br /><br /><a href="http://icouldbethewalrus.blogspot.com/2008/11/typical-random-update.html">#1) The Smashing Pumpkins - Muzzle</a> (for teaching me how to be a teenager)<br /><a href="http://icouldbethewalrus.blogspot.com/2009/02/mikes-104-songs-to-hear-before-you-die.html">#2) Sufjan Stevens - Vito's Ordination Song</a> (beautiful sounds, transcendent lyrics)<br /><a href="http://icouldbethewalrus.blogspot.com/2009/02/mikes-104-songs-to-hear-before-you-die_25.html">#3) They Might Be Giants - Number Three</a> (goofy lyrics, unstoppable foot-tapping fun)<br /><br />So here it is, number 4:<br /><br /></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:180%;">Counting Crows - Four Days</span><br /><br /><object width="250" height="40"> <param name="movie" value="http://listen.grooveshark.com/songWidget.swf"></param> <param name="wmode" value="window"></param> <param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"></param> <param name="flashvars" value="hostname=cowbell.grooveshark.com&widgetID=7195920&style=metal&p=0"></param> <embed src="http://listen.grooveshark.com/songWidget.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="250" height="40" flashvars="hostname=cowbell.grooveshark.com&widgetID=7195920&style=metal&p=0" allowScriptAccess="always" wmode="window"></embed></object><br /><br /></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:180%;">Who</span>: Counting Crows, my all-time favorite band, led by the poetic lyrics and endearing voice of Adam Duritz<br /><br /><span style="font-size:180%;">Wha</span>t: "Four Days," the 4th track from the Crows' 3rd album, This Desert Life<br /><br /><span style="font-size:180%;">When</span>: November 2nd, 1999. I am almost positive I bought this album on the day it came out, as I did with their 2nd, 4th, and 5th albums: so I first heard the song on that day.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:180%;">Where</span>: In my bedroom in Cleveland. I love the fact that the song sounds like it was recorded in a bedroom as well... more on that later<br /><br /><span style="font-size:180%;">Why</span>: I think it is a little easier to explain why this one is on the list compared to the last one. The song is a beautifully </span><span style="font-size:100%;">phrased song about longing. All the protagonist "want[s] is something good, it gets harder every time." The love of his life keeps leaving, flying to Cleveland (one of the other reasons I love this song: he played it live when he came through Cleveland in '99, mentioning that it was one of four songs on the new album he called his "Ohio set"). I think the metaphor of a bird flying away, one that is not new, and that Adam himself has done before, is wonderfully executed here. The futility of seeing a bird rise into the night sky and having no way to stop it perfectly brings to mind the idea of a long-distance love leaving town.<br /><br />The music itself has so much warmth to it that the song hardly sounds sad at all. The Crows love to do this, and Adam himself said he loves to juxtapose pretty music with harsh words, because most of the time people don't even listen to the lyrics. This record, like the two previous, was recorded in a mansion, different songs in different rooms. I'm not sure which room this was recorded in, but it has the more "padding" to it than any of the others. It has an analog feel that makes me think of a bedroom, or even more appropriately, a small living room with lots of soft furniture and lots of people. The harmonies on the song are better than any the Crows have done before or since, and I think that again adds to the overall warmth. Finally, the placement on the album after the desolate "Amy Hit the Atmosphere," and before the slightly less bleak "All My Friends," highlights the uplifting music, and increases the inkling of hope one can find in the lyrics.<br /><br />So now on to my personal reason for loving this song. I had a long distance relationship with my wife, and the first time I was away from her was for about 6 weeks. When I was four days away from seeing her again I kept hearing this song over and over in my head (I wasn't actually able to listen to any music) and ever since then it has been my 4 days to go song (my 3 days to go song will also appear on this list eventually) when we are apart.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:100%;" >All I want is something good</span><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:100%;" >It gets harder every time</span><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:100%;" >She is leaving here tonight</span><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:100%;" >Take a breath</span><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:100%;" >Take your time</span><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:100%;" >Spread your wings and rise</span><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:100%;" >Make a mark upon the wall</span><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:100%;" >Paint your face and pass the time</span><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:100%;" >Close your eyes and she ascends</span><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:100%;" >Hold your breath and ease your mind</span><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:100%;" >Forty Thousand times</span><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:100%;" >Time fades into the night</span><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:100%;" >They descend and then they climb</span><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:100%;" >Feathers falling through the night</span><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:100%;" >Have you seen Ohio rise?</span><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:100%;" >It has been four days and nights</span><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:100%;" >All I want is something fine</span><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:100%;" >It gets harder every time</span><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:100%;" >She is sleeping far away</span><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:100%;" >Take a breath</span><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:100%;" >Take your time</span><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:100%;" >Spread your wings and rise</span><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:100%;" >Rise into the black Ohio skies</span><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /><br /><a href="http://www.zshare.net/audio/57249937b2e64e74/">Counting Crows - Four Days</a> (zShare)<br /><a href="http://www.countingcrows.com/">Counting Crows</a> (check out the download of them covering "Borderline" by Madonna)<br />Buy <a href="http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewArtist?id=35719&forceArtistPage=1">Counting Crows</a> on iTunes</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02858966776220305815noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6495492.post-30984242295524735322009-03-17T11:27:00.002-07:002009-03-17T11:46:54.671-07:00yeah yeah yeah's It's Blitz reviewDear Yeah yeah yeah's,<br /><br />FUCK YOU!<br /><br />It's Blitz? what the hell is this dirvel? Seriouslly what happened to you guys. Where's mthe art star,date with the night, black tongue fierce rock power. Why are there keyboards and dance songs on this album? Why isn't karen O yelling at the top of her lungs?Why do you think you have to change? Why do you think you need to make mediocre pop trash.Why does your album IT'S BLITZ have no energy? Why the hell is the cover the most exciting part of this album?<a href="http://pitchfork.com/news/34603-yeah-yeah-yeahs-reveal-badass-iits-blitzi-cover/">http://pitchfork.com/news/34603-yeah-yeah-yeahs-reveal-badass-iits-blitzi-cover/</a><br /> I don't get it. You've lost me. I was a good fan. I bought your first ep and fever to tell before that maps video. I was there for you when Show your Bones kinda didn't work. I even pumped this new album up to my friends. You've made me sad. You've fallen to the gods of Mtv. I just can't follow you anymore. Enjoy your Spin cover article assholes....<br /><br />Love,<br />One of your biggest fans<br />John 87<br /><br />p.s. fuck you<br /><br />well anyway this album sucks. I appreciate artists trying things out and evolving overtime. I love when bands do that, in fact i think it's necessary. What i hate is when bands cut away their 'edge' to make pop music. Fever to tell was pop music. The band was great in the loud scratchy guitar, paniced drums and karen o screaming like a siren. So over two albums they cut all that awya. Now it's soft electro dance punk and hushed vocals. Why? seriouslly what were they trying to do besides make more money and hit up the mainstream radio. There's no energy here,no catchy lyrics or fun songs. It's bland and blah. This album isn't the egg being squeezed by the random hand on the cover, it's the white wall behind it. so yeah don;t bother if you ask me. There's more then enough mediocre alterna bands out there.John 87http://www.blogger.com/profile/01980595654172335943noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6495492.post-20600201014872368052009-03-17T09:49:00.003-07:002009-03-17T10:18:02.970-07:00My I-pod my other girlfriend...I send as much time with her as I do my real girlfriend...My XboxSo yeah I guess I've been on my own personal recession. Don't know why I haven't written much here ...it's been a month since I promised to post that mixtape...ha I break promises like I break hearts, by simply disapearing...that could have been funnier.<br /><br />So I've spent the last month perfecting my lil ipod. I scrapped everything off it and just began putting things back on it one by one. It's kind of like the modern day album reorganising.<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQvOnDlql5g">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQvOnDlql5g</a>. So yea I just started going through my digital collection and scrapping all the stuff i really don't need. Really there's no need for anyone to have 35 lil wayne albums...yes there are more then 35 lil wayne albums. Anyway I learned a lot about myself...it was a growing experience....not really actually. I found out how big a pretentious music snob i am. Seriouslly who thinks that they need every single Sarah record single. Anyway I've got 68.3 gigs filled up now, all organised and with every album cover. I really enjoy the coverflow option on the new ipods. I think the album cover is an important aspect to all albums. It along with the album name sort of sets the inital tone before you even begin playing the music. So having those album covers available to flip through is a nice touch. Most of the time now i don't look up albums or artists I just sort of flip through till I find something I want to check out.<br /><br />Now one of the major flaws I find with the new digital downloading era is the buy only one song from an album cause you can pay 99cents instead of 10 bucks. This really promotes the radio top 40 single format and sort of keeps down the little guys. I always kind of felt the arguement over illegal downloading was pushed so hard by huge record companies was because downloading really helpped a lot of tiny artists. I mean people refer to bands that are big on the bloggosphere now as myspace bands. Digital media is away of accessing an incredible amount of media very quickly and easily. Where before you had to access MTV and the radio to get new music now it's everywhere.Bands you'd never heard of are getting talked about without major label support. While I've been typing this I downloaded the new Alela Diane album, I'd never known about her if i hadn't gotten a recomendation from a blog about her great album the pirate gospel. Now she's got a review in Paste magazine and a slowly building career in the bloggosphere.<br /><br />Unfortunatelly I can see the draw to the single format. I drive around most of the time with my ipod on shuffle and allow it to pump out a sort of radio station mix bag. It's nice to just get random songs, i mean nobody really can listen to 36.7 days worth of music and hear all the good stuff.<br /><br />So here's a sort of compromise. Buy that single you like. bay Itunes your 99 cents. but then go and download the album somewhere else. Checkout what the artists do as a whole. I really think it's worth it to see what someone makes as a whole and not just as a part. It helps fuel creativity instead of just mundane pop fodder that is safe and sells well.<br /><br />well that's my lil rant of the day.John 87http://www.blogger.com/profile/01980595654172335943noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6495492.post-86707104508569534582009-03-15T10:51:00.002-07:002009-03-15T11:08:20.216-07:00Excuse me if I leak brains on your shirt-- my mind just got blownWow. Just watch this:<br /><br /><object width="320" height="265"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/AzZi-btc8AA&hl=en&fs=1&color1=0x234900&color2=0x4e9e00"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/AzZi-btc8AA&hl=en&fs=1&color1=0x234900&color2=0x4e9e00" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="320" height="265"></embed></object><br />Ok, if you liked that, how about 6 more tracks in the same style, different genres? Check out the site <a href="http://thru-you.com">ThruYou</a> for more amazing YouTube remixes by <a href="http://myspace.com/kutiman">Kutiman</a>. He's an Israeli artist (actually his last album was reviewed on Pitchfork and did pretty well - listen to the album streaming <a href="http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/11159-kutiman/">here</a>) named Ophir Kutiel, and he spent 3 months working on the ThruYou project. I'm truly amazed by the quality of the work. If you head to his website and check out the credits for each video you will find the most banal of videos went into the masterpieces he has made. Trombone playing for a small group of people, complete with talking and silhouettes running across the screen, make for a YouTube video no one will ever see, but in Kutiman's deft hands it becomes the lazy drunken melody of a dub raggae song. I have heard DJ Shadow's name thrown out in comparison, and I also think of Girl Talk's work, and I think this is the both the climax of one movement (the YouTube generation's "look at me" videos) and the start of another (the collaboration over the internet is creating higher and higher quality output). Love it.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02858966776220305815noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6495492.post-20447687758598706082009-03-04T17:39:00.005-08:002009-03-04T18:09:57.975-08:00Eating Alone + Some Random Thoughts<div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos-g.ll.facebook.com/photos-ll-sf2p/v76/89/109/12005963/n12005963_30794542_6314.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 460px; height: 306px;" src="http://photos-g.ll.facebook.com/photos-ll-sf2p/v76/89/109/12005963/n12005963_30794542_6314.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:78%;">An osprey "eating alone"(Photo by Mike)</span><br /></div><br />So I found this eclectic blog when I was looking for other "to hear before you die" lists called Eating Alone. It's this dude who makes music and also enjoys food. If he added wildlife to his list of things to blog about it would be too good to be true. Anyways, I made a comment and he decided to make a little spotlight on our blog: <a href="http://eatingalone.wordpress.com/2009/03/01/blog-spotlight-i-could-be-the-walrus/">there was no point in the colon since I could have just made the word "blog" the link, but whatever.</a> I know lately it's been just me, and before that just John87 and me, but Dan is finally getting settled in and is still excited about the blog and Drew still checks up once in awhile. It's totally true how we really are brought together by music in so many ways: we've been to concerts together, played rock band together, sang songs together, annoyed each other with music the others don't like, and on and on. Which brings me to part 2 of this post:<br /><br />So my grandpa just died this past year. He was in his upper 70's I believe, and for most of my adult life he was wheelchair bound and a bit out of it. We would go visit and just watch the Indians play or just talk a bit, and I know my dad would go over and put on Big Band music and listen with him. I guess my grandpa really loved Big Band. So at our annual family Christmas party they played a cassette tape he had made for a party, and I was definitely a little confused, but from what I gather he threw a party yearly where there was a music challenge. He would spend weeks preparing the tape with snippets of a song and then the challenge was to guess the name and song. It was strange hearing his voice so strong and playful, because our conversations had been limited so much to just expecting a smile. It made me wonder if music affected him the way it affects me. I think my brothers and I are very similar in our love of music in a way that a lot of people just don't get. For instance, my wife just can't have music on all the time, and she doesn't listen to lyrics. I used to listen to a song 4, 5, or more, times in a row if I liked a particular part. If there is quiet I put on music. I think Drew and Dan are the same, although I'm not sure to what extent. And I think our dad has it, too. He once told me, when the song "I'm Your Captain" by Grand Funk Railroad came on, that he used to put it on repeat every night when he went to bed one summer. I remember I brought home my mp3 player and FM transmitter and he just about flipped: he thought it was the greatest thing since sliced bread. I told him I had Johnny Cash on it another time I visited and he borrowed it and had headphones on in the morning when I came downstairs, just listening as he laid on a chair in the living room. Is this genetic, like our bad tempers and our bursting laughter? Will I pass this almost compulsive love of music on to my kids or will they get my wife's passing enjoyment of it? Does it really matter to me? Yes. It does, because if my dad gets to have a relaxing end of his life I hope I can go over and watch the Tribe and listen to the Big Bands (Stones, Doors, Creedence) that he loves so much, and if I am so lucky to have my kids around me at the end of my life I could only hope for the same.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02858966776220305815noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6495492.post-69938131750079838332009-03-01T17:09:00.004-08:002009-03-01T17:45:36.003-08:00Music Review: The Tallest Man on Earth<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51YndmAym9L._SS500_.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 371px; height: 371px;" src="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51YndmAym9L._SS500_.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />The Tallest Man on Earth: Shallow Grave<br />4 out of 5<br /><br />Here's one I missed in 2008, and surely would have been one of my favorites of the year. I first read about The Tallest Man on Earth, AKA Kristian Matsson, a Swedish musician, in Paste, I believe. All I really remember about the article was the comparison to Bob Dylan, which of course seems a bit cliched, but they really pushed you to want to find out how much like Dylan he sounds. Well, I gotta say, he's pretty Dylanesque, although I honestly think his voice sounds more like John Prine, and his guitar work far surpasses both of those artists. Who he really reminds me of is Mason Jennings, because like Jennings' debut album, every song sounds like a favorite the first time. I think that is the mark of a great songwriter, and TMOE is that, for sure.<br /><br />His voice is less than nothing special, but he is able to sing his simple, twisting melodies without much trouble, and his fingerpicked guitar marches along behind. I'm not going to lie, Ive listened to the album at least 5 or 6 times now, and I still haven't paid much attention to the lyrics, which is usually the first thing I do, but again, the lovely melodies and familiarity of each tune have made each song a winner. I especially like the opener, "I Won't Be Found," with its thrumbing guitar and TMOE's "huh's" annunciating the end of each line. It sounds like a lost classic, although I have almost no idea what it's supposed to be about. That song is followed by "Pistol Dreams," another beauty with just the guitar and simple melody. If there is a downside to the album, it would be that some of the songs that don't work instantly tend to slow down the breakneck pace of the hits. Overall, if you are a fan of simple folk I would highly recommend checking this one out.<br /><br />Check out <a href="http://www.aquariumdrunkard.com/2009/01/27/here-we-go-magic-the-tallest-man-on-earth/">Aquarium Drunkard</a> (great blog) for a few free songs.<br />Buy it on <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Shallow-Grave/dp/B001BKWU8S/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=dmusic&qid=1232622355&sr=8-1">Amazon</a><br /><br /><object width="425" height="264"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/e9K68GRvHJE&hl=en&fs=1&color1=0x234900&color2=0x4e9e00"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/e9K68GRvHJE&hl=en&fs=1&color1=0x234900&color2=0x4e9e00" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="264"></embed></object>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02858966776220305815noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6495492.post-53246696061751194352009-02-25T21:01:00.008-08:002009-03-04T18:04:01.405-08:00Mike's 104 Songs to Hear Before You Die: Song #3<div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos-d.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-sf2p/v165/89/109/12005963/n12005963_31256731_4972.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 447px; height: 335px;" src="http://photos-d.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-sf2p/v165/89/109/12005963/n12005963_31256731_4972.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:78%;">Mmmm... random (Photo by Mike)<br /><br /></span></div><span style="font-size:100%;">In the continuing feature of my favorite songs (Song <a href="http://icouldbethewalrus.blogspot.com/2008/11/typical-random-update.html">#1</a> and <a href="http://icouldbethewalrus.blogspot.com/2009/02/mikes-104-songs-to-hear-before-you-die.html">#2</a>), I can't think of a better song to do for the third installment, and the best part is it's the first one that popped up on my iPod:<br /><br /></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:130%;">They Might Be Giants - Number Three</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:180%;">Who:</span> John and John of They Might Be Giants<br /><br /><span style="font-size:180%;">What:</span> Number Three, 88 seconds of pure, unadulterated fun<br /><br /><span style="font-size:180%;">When:</span> 1986 on their debut eponymous album. I have to thank John87 again for his musical education, as he forced the album Flood onto my brothers and myself back in about 1990, and then AGAIN introduced us to TMBG when Apollo 18 came out in 1992. But I probably first heard this particular song from my college roommate, Craig, who reinvigorated my love of the band.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:180%;">Where:</span> Sounds like somewhere in Georgia, but more likely Brooklyn<br /><br /><span style="font-size:180%;">Why:</span> I hadn't really considered how difficult it might be to convincingly explain some of my song choices. I mean, really, this song is just plain silly... and I guess that's what's so great about it. First of all, the premise is genius: this is the third song of a writer who only has two songs in him. The best part is that TMBG have gone on to make music for over 20 years, and just a few days ago won a Grammy for Best Children's Album. In fact, they used to have a local Brooklyn phone number you could call for a free new song, which they abandoned for a free song on a website until 2006 when they discontinued it. This is a band with no lack of songs.<br /><br />The band showed their wit and sense of fun early on in their career, with sly phrases like "Now I'm in the middle like a bird without a beak," (a middle-finger reference). They also showed they wouldn't shy away from social commentary, with lines like: "A rich man once told me, 'Hey, life's a funny thing.' A poor man once told me that he can't afford to speak," as well as some lines about an aloof president who refers to the singer as "boy."<br /><br />Finally, the hodown drums, jangly guitar, and countrified vocals seem built to make you dance. I find it impossible to keep myself from tapping my foot, if not full on dancing! And I really dislike country music, but this is obviously not your standard country music pop song. So give it a whirl, let me know if you have the same reactions.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.zshare.net/audio/5623379690c2e5f0/">They Might Be Giants - Number Three</a> (zShare)<br /></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /><br /><object width="250" height="40"> <param name="movie" value="http://listen.grooveshark.com/songWidget.swf"> <param name="wmode" value="window"> <param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"> <param name="flashvars" value="hostname=cowbell.grooveshark.com&widgetID=5470721&style=grass"> <embed src="http://listen.grooveshark.com/songWidget.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" flashvars="hostname=cowbell.grooveshark.com&widgetID=5470721&style=grass" allowscriptaccess="always" wmode="window" width="250" height="40"></embed></object><br /><br />On a side note, I heard this great song by Weezer today, and I thought it very nicely summed up my stance on the importance of this list. I really hope everyone has a list of "Heart Songs." I would love to see others' lists, whether song by song or in whole. If you've got one just leave a comment and I will be sure to link to it or make it a post on our site.<br /><br /><object width="250" height="40"> <param name="movie" value="http://listen.grooveshark.com/songWidget.swf"> <param name="wmode" value="window"> <param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"> <param name="flashvars" value="hostname=cowbell.grooveshark.com&widgetID=5471168&style=grass"> <embed src="http://listen.grooveshark.com/songWidget.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" flashvars="hostname=cowbell.grooveshark.com&widgetID=5471168&style=grass" allowscriptaccess="always" wmode="window" width="250" height="40"></embed></object><br /><br /><a href="http://www.tmbg.com/index1.html">They Might Be Giants</a><br /><a href="http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewArtist?id=149020&forceArtistPage=1">Buy TMBG</a> on iTunes</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02858966776220305815noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6495492.post-26524930917187512122009-02-23T19:30:00.010-08:002009-03-04T18:04:56.655-08:00Mike's 104 Songs to Hear Before You Die: Song #2<div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos-b.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-sf2p/v233/89/109/12005963/n12005963_31462161_6970.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 390px; height: 292px;" src="http://photos-b.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-sf2p/v233/89/109/12005963/n12005963_31462161_6970.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:78%;">A gate to another world (Photo by Mike)<br /></span></div><br />So you know those Songs. The Songs that need to be spelled with a capital "S." The Songs that you couldn't live without, that define your life, your must have Songs. Maybe you don't and I'm crazy, but I have them. They are the songs that give me goosebumps, or make me instantly happy and need to jump around, or fully capture the depth of my melancholy.<br /><br />I have over 13,000 songs on my iPod, with most of them rated, and only 104 are rated 5 stars. The system is not objective. These are not songs that necessarily have historical consequence, although some do, and some only do in the history of my life. They are not the most cutting edge, nor are they necessarily the best written or best played. They are, however, the songs that I consider to be the cream of the crop for my life. If you haven't, come up with a list of songs you consider to be must-haves.<br /><br />So this is the first in a series of installments about my favorite songs. The title says "Song #2" because I already did a <a href="http://icouldbethewalrus.blogspot.com/2008/11/typical-random-update.html">post</a> about one of the songs, "Muzzle" by The Smashing Pumpkins. I will probably just put the list on random to pick which song to talk about in the future, but as I was listening today the song I'm about to talk about came on and I just felt compelled to start with it because I talked about a very similar (but not as good) song a couple days ago.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:180%;">Sufjan Stevens - Vito's Ordination Song</span><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /><span style="font-size:180%;">Who</span>: Sufjan Stevens, (who played over 20 different instruments on this album) with a few friends.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:180%;">What</span>: Vito's Ordination Song<br /><br /><span style="font-size:180%;">When</span>: 2003 on </span><span style="font-size:100%;">"Greetings from Michigan: The Great Lake State." I first heard the song soon after its release, thanks to John87 if I remember correctly.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:180%;">Where</span>: Michigan?<br /><br /><span style="font-size:180%;">Why</span>: The song itself has a beautiful calming pace, with the drums shuffling along, lazy trumpets, and plucking banjo building over the course of 7 minutes. At first listening the meaning of the lyrics may not be readily apparent, but knowing Sufjan Stevens it becomes clear that the words are about an all-loving, omnipotent God. Sufjan is singing words of comfort- a God who has always known you, is with you always, wears your clothes, "and your jacket, too." And the final touch is to let you know He has a plan for you. I can't think of a more simple way to convey trust in God than Stevens' words:<br /><br />"R</span>est in my arms,<br />Sleep in my bed,<br />There's a design<br />To what I did and said."<br /><br />He repeats them for over 3 minutes-- it's a mantra that fills you with a total sense of ease, relieves you of stress, lays you down in a bed made of trust. I think if you have a passing sense that there is a God, this song should be the first one you put on when things feel like they are falling apart. It's a reminder that the screw-ups and pitfalls are leading you somewhere: I hope it's true and I hope you believe it the way Sufjan does, the way I do.<br /><br /><em>I always knew you in your mother's arms </em><br /><em>I have called your name </em><br /><em>I've an idea placed in your mind to be a better man </em><br /><em>I've made a crown for you; put it in your room </em><br /><em>And when the bridegroom comes there will be noise </em><br /><em>There will be glad and a perfect bed </em><br /><em>And when you write a poem, I know the words </em><br /><em>I know the sounds before you write it down </em><br /><em>When you wear your clothes I wear them too </em><br /><em>I wear your shoes and your jacket too </em><br /><em>I always knew you in your mother's arms </em><br /><em>I have called you son </em><br /><em>I've made amends between father and son </em><br /><em>Or if you haven't one, rest in my arms </em><br /><em>Sleep in my bed; there's a design to what I did and said</em><br /><em>Rest in my arms, sleep in my bed</em><br /><em>There's a design to what I did and said</em><br /><br /><br /><object width="250" height="40"> <param name="movie" value="http://listen.grooveshark.com/songWidget.swf"> <param name="wmode" value="window"> <param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"> <param name="flashvars" value="hostname=cowbell.grooveshark.com&widgetID=5237443&style=grass"> <embed src="http://listen.grooveshark.com/songWidget.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" flashvars="hostname=cowbell.grooveshark.com&widgetID=5237443&style=grass" allowscriptaccess="always" wmode="window" width="250" height="40"></embed></object>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02858966776220305815noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6495492.post-19962561471361381112009-02-22T16:12:00.004-08:002009-03-04T18:05:38.128-08:00The Transfiguration<div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos-e.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-sf2p/v199/89/109/12005963/n12005963_31432100_6788.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 378px; height: 504px;" src="http://photos-e.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-sf2p/v199/89/109/12005963/n12005963_31432100_6788.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:78%;">(Photo by Mike)<br /><br /></span></div>Today in church we heard the reading from Gospel of Mark about the Transfiguration, so I had to pull out the great Sufjan Stevens song by the same name and share it. I love the fact that Stevens writes such great music that is not "Christian," but at the same time includes the strength of his faith so clearly. I still plan on making a playlist of current music that is spiritual but not written by "Christian music" artists. I find songs about God by Beck and Iron & Wine to be much more powerful than ones by DC Talk or Audio Adrenaline. I guess less is more sometimes. Lyrics and song are below:<br /><div style="width: 300px;"><object width="300" height="110"><param name="movie" value="http://media.imeem.com/m/eoboA40q7N/aus=false/"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><param name="FlashVars" value="backColor=000000&primaryColor=999999&secondaryColor=4d4d4d&linkColor=666666"><embed src="http://media.imeem.com/m/eoboA40q7N/aus=false/" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" flashvars="backColor=000000&primaryColor=999999&secondaryColor=4d4d4d&linkColor=666666" width="300" height="110"></embed></object><div style="padding: 1px;"><div style="padding: 4px 4px 0pt 0pt; float: left;"><a href="http://www.imeem.com/"><img src="http://www.imeem.com/embedsearch/E6E6E6/" border="0" /></a></div><form method="post" action="http://www.imeem.com/embedsearch/" style="margin: 0pt; padding: 0pt;"><input name="EmbedSearchBox" type="text"><input value="Search" style="font-size: 12px;" type="submit"><div style="padding-top: 3px;"><a href="http://www.imeem.com/ads/banneradclick.ashx?ep=0&ek=eoboA40q7N" rel="nofollow"><img src="http://www.imeem.com/ads/bannerad/152/10/" border="0" /></a><a href="http://www.imeem.com/ads/banneradclick.ashx?ep=1&ek=eoboA40q7N" rel="nofollow"><img src="http://www.imeem.com/ads/bannerad/153/10/" border="0" /></a><a href="http://www.imeem.com/ads/banneradclick.ashx?ep=2&ek=eoboA40q7N" rel="nofollow"><img src="http://www.imeem.com/ads/bannerad/154/10/" border="0" /></a><a href="http://www.imeem.com/ads/banneradclick.ashx?ep=3&ek=eoboA40q7N" rel="nofollow"><img src="http://www.imeem.com/ads/bannerad/155/10/eoboA40q7N/" border="0" /></a></div></form></div></div><br /><a href="http://www.imeem.com/rockmusic6/music/hDxjX6Oj/sufjan_stevens_the_transfiguration/">The Transfiguration - Sufjan Stevens</a><br /><br />"When he took the three disciples<br />to the mountainside to pray,<br />his countenance was modified, his clothing was aflame.<br />Two men appeared: Moses and Elijah came;<br />they were at his side.<br />The prophecy, the legislation spoke of whenever he would die.<br /><br />Then there came a word<br />of what he should accomplish on the day.<br />Then Peter spoke, to make of them a tabernacle place.<br />A cloud appeared in glory as an accolade.<br />They fell on the ground.<br />A voice arrived, the voice of God,<br />the face of God, covered in a cloud.<br /><br />What he said to them,<br />the voice of God: the most beloved son.<br />Consider what he says to you, consider what's to come.<br />The prophecy was put to death,<br />was put to death, and so will the Son.<br />And keep your word, disguise the vision till the time has come.<br /><br />Lost in the cloud, a voice: Have no fear! We draw near!<br />Lost in the cloud, a sign: Son of man! Turn your ear!<br />Lost in the cloud, a voice: Lamb of God! We draw near!<br />Lost in the cloud, a sign: Son of man! Son of God!"Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02858966776220305815noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6495492.post-65267744022616160192009-02-21T10:52:00.007-08:002009-02-21T20:57:16.989-08:00Jonathan JohanssonSo I recently found a blog titled <a href="http://thelemurblog.com/">The Lemur Blog</a> which so far has a lot of electronic music that I am definitely not familiar with, but I really dig some of it, including this guy <a href="http://www.jonathanjohansson.se/">Jonathan Johansson</a>. This is definitely music that John87 and Dan, and probably even Drew, would be more into than I am, but it is very chill and '80s and the guy's definitely got talent. It makes me feel like being in some sort of driving montage filmed in the 80's. So I checked out his site and it's all in Swedish, but whatever, he has a playlist on the side there and you can listen to his stuff. And as The Lemur points out I think the two best tracks are "All Vill Ha Hela Varlden" (great cover of Tears for Fears "Everybody Wants to Rule the World) and "Sag Vad Ni Vill." Both tracks can be found at the links below (again, thanks to The Lemur Blog). Enjoy. Also keep an eye on the Lemur Blog for translation of the songs into English. I hope to be posting more this week about a couple other albums I have been wearing out (see "Blasting Out Our Doors" on the right pane for a hint) that I think you might really like. Also hope to start hearing more music from 2009 even though I am still catching up on what I missed in '08.<br /><br />EDIT: Here's the <a href="http://thelemurblog.com/2009/02/21/jonathan-johanssons-lyrics-translated-into-english-by-yours-truly/">translation</a><br /><a href="http://www.zshare.net/audio/55862226e99f6d24/"><br />Jonathan Johansson - All Vill Ha Hela Varlden</a><br /><a href="http://www.zshare.net/audio/558623208c174742/">Jonathon Johansson - Sag Vad Ni Vill</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.klicktrack.com/hybris/releases/jonathan-johansson/en-hand-i-himlen-album">Buy It</a><strong><br /></strong><br /><object width="425" height="264"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/R7-m1YbhLXY&hl=en&fs=1&color1=0x3a3a3a&color2=0x999999"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/R7-m1YbhLXY&hl=en&fs=1&color1=0x3a3a3a&color2=0x999999" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="264"></embed></object>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02858966776220305815noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6495492.post-13865952140639700982009-02-15T10:48:00.004-08:002009-03-04T18:06:27.033-08:00Challenge - Response<div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos-f.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-sf2p/v199/89/109/12005963/n12005963_31432101_7113.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 357px; height: 475px;" src="http://photos-f.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-sf2p/v199/89/109/12005963/n12005963_31432101_7113.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:78%;">(Photo by Mike)<br /></span></div>So if you haven't read John87's post on February 14th, skip down to that before you continue reading-- this is a response to his challenge.<br /><br />So I listened to "Per Second Second," and my initial one-word reactions were: intense, blunt, and incomplete. I also felt the song was fine, but not really a winner-- it felt like a demo. Then I pulled up the full album and started listening, and I realized before I even got to the song in question that some of the things I mentioned would help it fit right in with the album. The whole album has a little bit of a demo feel, just because all the songs are so thick, although it is interesting that I call it a demo sound, since the album took four years to record. The songs all seem to build and decline into one another-- there isn't a constant ramp throughout the whole album, but the songs just seem to build off one another. By the time you get to "Per Second Second," the immediacy of the song is really what the album needed. I still think the song is just ok, but I think I understand its purpose when I hear it as part of the whole album. <br /><br />I don't think this theory is true with many albums, though. Some albums are greater than the sum of their parts; "Smile" by Brian Wilson, "A Grand Don't Come for Free" by the Streets, etc. But there are still a lot of albums, I think, that you could take a song and it stands well on its own. It's interesting, though, especially since John and I are very big on listening to full albums. I think that for me a lot of albums work better then songs mostly because I am so attached to the albums.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02858966776220305815noreply@blogger.com1