Sunday, October 30, 2005

Heh--Happy 100th post to me! I didn't even realize it tallied that until I happened to notice "99 posts".

Anyway, my 100th post is going to be used for apologizing. I'm going to apologize because I'm going to be late--perhaps very late--with my usual Five Songs post this week. Tomorrow (Halloween) is my birthday, and this weekend I've rediscovered what it means to be truly trashed. That was Friday night. Saturday after making it home at noon I rested a little bit, but then went out with some friends. Saturday night went to a party then went to a Buffy Sing-A-Along event. It was so awesome :) They showed "Hush" and "Once More With Feelings", and there was audience participation a la Rocky Horror. It was awesome. Got back from that at 2 a.m. Woke up this morning then went to the doctor because I've been congested for a month. Went to the grocery store, got back at 4:30. Slept for an hour. Spent the last three hours posting to livejournal, e-mailing people, talking to a boy, finishing the cds I made for the boy.

So, in short, I'm not going to be able to post the list tonight. I know what songs I want to do for the most part, but it takes a lot of time and energy to think of quasi-clever things to say, and then to locate where I found the songs, then to post to the different places I post it to.

I'm not sure when I'll be able to post it because for once in my life I actually have quite a bit going on! I would roughly guess Wednesday, 'cause what I"m doing that night won't start until 8:30.

I hope everyone is having a good night, and thank you for understanding.

Sunday, October 23, 2005

Five Songs I'm Loving This Week

This week I have two of the prettiest songs I've heard in years (I'm not saying I don't love the other songs, they're just not all pretty).

The first is by New Buffalo, and it's called "Recovery". I've been listening to this for just a few weeks (I've had it for two months, but I battle laziness constantly (I never win because I'm too lazy to fight well) and it takes me a few months sometimes to transfer a song from my computer to my mp3 player. Anyway, this started coming up a few weeks ago, and I just think it's gorgeous. I'll listen to it three times in a row (I'd listen more, but am afraid of becoming obsessive. Okay, I'm afraid of becoming hopelessly lost in obsession).

The second song I like as much. Unfortunately until today it was only known as Track 4. My mp3 player doesn't download all of the track information, for some reason. Because of my aforementioned laziness, I hadn't actually looked it up until now to find that it's it's Immaculate Machine, "No Way Out". This is a great song, though--one I'll be listening to often, and for the rest of my life.

I just saw the video for My morning Jacket's "Off The Record", and I was absolutely blown away by the song. It's not pretty like the first two songs, and it's not gentile like some of the songs I like. No, it's pure rock. That's the only description I have for it. It's really good rock, though. The song always holds my attention when I hear it. Like most people who read rock/alternative magazines, I'd heard of them, but I'd never heard any of their music. I figured they would be kind of Kings-of-Leon like (whom I now also love) and I didn't know if I'd like it. Well, I should've been paying attention to them (and Kings of Leon, too) a lot earlier. MP3: "Off The Record"

The next name I will definitely have to cut and paste. 01-bjorn_kleinhenz_and_pete_thompson-smog_bomb- There we go. I love my Swedish singers. I don't know what it is about the Nethersingers. I love a lot of Norwegian musicians, too. Maybe it's just 'cause their styles are so different from ours, and the music can be pretty damn
beautiful. This song, "Smoke Bomb", is actually surprisingly American sounding. There's almost something roots-rock about it. Regardless of the musician's origin, though, I love this song.

The next song is a retro song; it's one of my favorite Belle & Sebastian songs (the other favorite being "Lazy Line Painter Jane", which I may upload sometime too). The song I'm linking to now, though is "The State I'm In". There's a different version on their first record Tigermilk (ten years old...my God) but this version is from one of the best purchases I ever made--their first 4-CD set of singles. This song is from the "Dog on Wheels" single. I've never liked every single Belle and Sebastian song (some I simply hate) but the songs I love guarantee I will be a fan forever.

Sunday, October 16, 2005

More Than Five Songs I'm Loving This Week

This is going to be a bit more than my five songs because there are alot of songs I need to include before they're not findable anymore (oh wait, most of them weren't findable anymore. I had to megaupload two of them) and also I found some Jacksonville (where I live) musicians I liked, and I wanted to include them. The commentary will be scattershot as usual, but isn't that what everyone's come to expect? I wouldn't be me if I were unscattershot.

The first band is Kingsbury Max, and I'd never heard of them until a few weeks ago. I really have taken to their song "And Fall Out". This song feels like a Twin Atlas songin it's lightness. I hate using this description, but I'm gonna say it anyway--yes, it's whimsical. It's very Sunday Afternoon In The Park. If I could whistle, I would (I can't whistle. Never learned. Never learned to drive either. Taught myself to snap, though. Drove my mother crazy because I wouldn't stop.) Anyhow, this is a really nice song. I recommend it.

As usual I was too late on most of these songs; most of the downloads had disappeared before I got to posting them. Unfortunately, "Clear the Way" by Mere Surmise was one of these. I really like this song--it's low-key, as is a lot of stuff I like It's also a very good, very memorable song. Here's the stream.

I searched Myspace for Jacksonville musicians I would like because I figured miracles have happened before. Well, I did find some that I really liked.

The first is The Julius Airwave, and I'm particularly fond of "Glory Glory", but they're all good. More of my precious New-New Wave. Click on "download" to save any of these songs.


The second Jacksonville band is Beautiful Mess. Only one song is available for download--"Reprise"--but I would suggest at least listening to the other song "Four Squares." It's categorized as Indie Power Pop on Myspace, and, well, I wouldn't call it exactly that--when I think of "Power Pop" I think of retro-sixties girl's group (like one of my favorites, The Aislers Set). I'd call this musicThe Cars if The Cars were starting out in the middle of this nameless decade, and not the 80s. Yeah, definitely download "Reprise."

The third Jax musician is Ashton Allen. Unfortunately his songs aren't available for download. Oh well. I really like the song "Better Than Yourself". It's the best kind of folk music--strong, engaging, but not over-the-top. It's not "Michael Rowed the Boat Ashore" folk, it's modern folk. It's mainly comprised of guitar, but there's also somebeautiful (what sounds like) violin and horns (eh, I'm not good at identifying instruments). He also had a write-up in Spin recently.


It took me forever to find a copy of the next song (because of course the link I used originally expired.) Finally I found it on Stereogum (Yay Stereogum!). This song is awesome (it's actually a Rolling Stones song) and this cover is amazing. It's called "Steet Fighting Man" and it's by Lake Trout.

The last song is called "This Yellowed Field" and it's by Brian Michael Roff and the Deers (yeah, I kept having to look up their name to get it right). This is one of those sad,sad songs. I love those slightly country, slightly honky tonk girl-done-left me songs, and this is one of the best. He's so distraught he "washes his face with his glasses on" (hey I've been there, but that was because of drugs, not love). I'm having to megaupload the song 'cause, yep, it's gone from where I found it originally. I have got to keepup. That's it--I just need to quit my job so I can download music full-time. Then I'd barely be able to keep up. Anyway, please keep in mind this'll only available for a little while (a week? I dunno) and it is a very good song.

You would be wise to download it.

Sunday, October 09, 2005

Five Songs I'm Loving This Week

There are a few songs that come up on my mp3 player every day and I think "I love this song. I have got to remember to post that this weekend." Problem is, I'm always on the bus or walking, and I can't get to my player to actually see who's doing the song. So, weeks go by. The songs come up and I think "Oh...I've got to..." and another day goes by.

So this evening (Saturday, October 8, 2005) I have gone through the songs on my mp3 player and made a list of those elusive songs. There are more than five songs, so I shall have to break it down between this weekend and next.

The first is a very melancholy, very heartbreaking song called "Breaking". Chris Hickey says he's "just breaking" for someone. I know I've felt that way before, as have most people. The music captures that feeling perfectly, and I feel like I break a little when I'm hearing it. Oops...just realized why I never linked to it. I'm going to link to a streaming site. If you check back in a few days, I may've replaced this with an mp3.

The second song has the funniest, but also the saddest lyric. "You told me before you preferred handsome men, but for me you would make an exception." Yep, she sounds like a winner. The name of the song is "Chelsea Hotel #2" and it's by Iron and Wine. It's about three years old, but I'd never heard it before I downloaded it.

A less sad and more animated song is "Mexican Standoff" by Elbow (though I have no idea what it's about--so it could be sad, for all I know). The first song I heard by Elbow was the soft, reflective "Newborn", and no matter what else I hear by them, I still have them fixed
in my mind as gentle giants--sparce music and soaring vocals. Well, they do play that, and the vocals do rise as the song progresses, but "Mexican Standoff" is the type of song that will wake you up and possibly toss you off the side of the canyon if you don't pay attention.

I can't imagine that I haven't linked to Cezanne's "I've got so much" before, because I absolutely love this song, but it's not coming up on my list. We'll blame it on my exhaustion, because this song should've been posted months ago. It's just one of those quintessential Lola-songs. What can I say--I love my indie boys.

Lastly (for this week, anyway), we have Bloodthirsty Lovers, "Medicated" (look to the right of the page near the top). This song reminds me of...it reminds me of...Dead Can Dance by way of Portishead? Liz Frasier if Liz Frasier were in need of medication? Anyways, it's weird and I like it. "Weird" is the highest compliment I bestow on anything.

In addition to my usual five songs, I'm going to post a few more links. The first is for a band I like I found on Myspace. I may try to find some downloads, but for right now I just have their myspace account.

Also, I want Veronica Mars Soundtrack. I so totally already know all this music. I rock.

Sunday, October 02, 2005

Five Songs I'm Loving This Week

It is a good thing that I don't do much of anything on Sunday nights, because I seem to wait until the very last minute to post my five songs for the week. It wouldn't be so hard if I could find the weblinks for the songs. I always try to include the web address when I'm saving the name of the song, but sometimes I forget, or it starts downloading before I get a chance to, or sometimes even if I write it down I still can't find it!

This week's was especially hard since I haven't had a chance to organize any of the new songs I've gotten (I now have almost 3,000 songs), but I still think I did well considering. It's also hard trying to figure out which ones I've already posted. That's it--I need a personal assistant.

The first song is a cute song from a band called Girlboy Girl (Yeah, I know a lot of guys who'd like that ratio). The band's from Bristol, England, and according to the label's site they've been around for almost ten years. (See, I'm not so old...) The name of the song is "Radiator" I remember nights in my early 20s listening to the radiator...I miss radiators...

I've only downloaded a few of the songs from Bishop Allen, but so far I love what I've heard. I'd particularly like to have people listen to the first song listed, "Things Are What You Make Of Them". That's my favorite right now, but I'm also loving their version of "Eve of Destruction".

I really like the songs I've heard from Mary Timony's record label site (look in the list at the bottom of the page...I particularly like "Poison Moon") and the song I got from Said the Gramophone, "Hour Glass." Very unusual.

I've linked to Aaron Booth before, and I've liked everything I've heard. Turns out he's also a producer, and on his site he links to one of the songs he produced. Turns out I really like the song. It's called "Down With Safe" and it's by Hot Little Rocket. You can find it towards the bottom left of Aaron's website.

Retroactively, we have a song I haven't thought of in a decade. I've had Midnight Oil's Greatest Hits collection (called 20,000 Watts R.S.L.) on cd for years, but I only listened to the songs I remembered liking (bad Lola). Well, I was listening to music choice (digital music service on my cable) the other day, and their song "The Dead Heart" came on, and I was all "whoa...I loved this song!" and I did...I adored this song. I still do adore it, which is why I'm including it. So, here it is--my long-lost favorite Midnight Oil song.