Feeling pretty basic and tired on this Monday morning so i'm hoping the shuffle cooperates...we'll see.
1. Mellow My Man - The Roots, off of The Roots Come Alive
My freshman year of college we had 2 kids named Matt that lived on my floor in the dorms. One was like 6'2'' and one was like 5'4'', so naturally they became "Big Matt" and "Little Matt" respectively. Little Matt was from LA, babysat for Samuel L. Jackson, lived in the Hills, and loved hip hop, so much so that he was like the only short, white Jewish kid to attend the Watts Riot benefit concert with De La Soul, Rebels of Rhythm (Jurassic 5's former group) and other classic hip hop groups. This CD always reminds me of him. We listened to it straight through on the way to the mountains and and back and on the night before i moved, we sat in my room with a few people and listened to it while the party raged on outside. Good times. Good CD. The Roots are fantastic, if you didn't know.
2. Liar - Built To Spill, off of You in Reverse
My verdict is still out on Built to Spill. I really like this song but then i'll not like the next one i hear. I'm not really sure and i haven't spent enough time listening to this song to really comment on it. This song usually doesn't pass my iPod ADD test though, which means that while i'm driving, i'm constantly clicking forward on my iPod searching for the perfect song for that drive. And i'll listen to the first 30 seconds of 20 songs instead of listening to 5 songs straight through. I have ADD and unless a song really fits my mood, i'll probably just skip right past it. This song, and other Built to Spill songs, get skipped. If i practiced what i preached and actually listened to the entire CD in order, i'd probably like them a lot more.
3. Well As Well - Before Braille, off of Tired of Not Being Away from Here
I've talked about B4B a lot so i won't go back through all of it, but i will say that Rajiv, their amazing guitarist, is back from Peru and i'm really excited to see what he'll do in the next few months musically. I'm sure the South American influence will really be apparent in his new music. Here's hoping that he gets to it soon. This scene is really really lame. I can't tell you the last time i went to a local show. Oh yeah, probably since i don't have any friends in local bands anymore (good work guys, see you this weekend at Shelly and Mia's wedding...)
4. Lights - Journey, off of Journey's Greatest Hits
My iTunes loves Journey, and as we've said before, what's not to love?
5. Bullet Holes - Dispatch, off of Gut the Van
I'm really, really pissed that they broke up without me ever having the chance to see them live. From all accounts they were just an amazing live band and they're concerts were just good-times all around. Bullet Holes is one of my favorite songs from them, it starts off all slow with this cool vocal intro and harmony and then it runs off into this cool double time action. Dispatch has that college rock kinda feel to them and you can pretty much take that as a description of their music. It's not deep, it's not experimental, it won't change your life, but they do incorporate some cool keyboards, a ton of percussion (they have done entire CDs and albums without a drum set) and very cool vocal harmonies. For a road trip sing-a-long you really couldn't ask for anything better.
Well i wanted simple, and that's pretty much what i got. And even though i said i wouldn't, i'm working on a year in review type post so be sure to check that out later this week/weekend.
Showing posts with label Before Braille. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Before Braille. Show all posts
Monday, December 18, 2006
Monday, December 04, 2006
Monday Morning Shuffle (The slacker afternoon edition)
1. Faithfully – Journey, off of Journey’s Greatest Hits
Journey is just fantastic. I know, I know, it’s 80s and cheesy and everything but they’re also great for all those same reasons. And really, can you think of a song that has covered this topic in the last 20 years??? No, because it hasn’t been done. When I think of Steve Perry and Journey, I think of some of the hardest partying, groupie shacking rock and rollers out there and it’s hard for me to believe that they wrote a song about how hard it is to be on the road and miss their families and their wives while traveling around and then promising to be forever theirs, faithfully. It just cracks me up. And you know you like it too, stop lying to yourselves.
2. Atomic Dog – George Clinton
Let’s put it this way: Without this song Snoop Dogg has no career. George Clinton has really gotten screwed/left out of this whole forefather of hip-hop conversation. He probably would have made billions in royalties if he was The Beatles, but instead he had his just had his beats robbed from him by the word “sampling” which is somehow different that “stealing.” Puff Daddy alone owes George millions. Let’s move on.
3. Arrive Alive – Before Braille, off of The Rumor
B4B has already made an appearance on the shuffle before so I don’t need to tell you again how much I like them. I was looking at their myspace the other day however and it doesn’t look like they’ll be doing any new stuff anytime soon. That’s pretty upsetting to me but the good news is that Rajiv gets back from his mission any day now so I’m excited to have his guitar skills back in the area. I hope to hear something new and great from him soon. Maybe he can re-energize the guys. The Rumor was their first full-length CD and i’m still really impressed with it. For a local, small label release, it is just mastered and arranged so well. Like I’ve said before, the order of the songs matter so much and I think The Rumor is one of the finest examples of that I’ve found.
4. Autographs & Apologies – Motion City Soundtrack, off of I Am the Movie
You know those CD samplers you get when you buy shoes at Industrial or pick up for free at a concert or festival? Well I got one from Epitaph a while back and it had this super-catchy song called The Future Freaks Me Out by this band called the Motion City Soundtrack. The future was in fact freaking me out at the time so I loaded my car up with stuff and took off for about 3 weeks. On the way out of town I bought this CD and spent the next 3 weeks listening to it, digesting it, singing along with it. It was amazing timing. The struggles that the songwriter was going through and the struggles I was having were common in many way and of course that just sucks you deeper into any album. “Long lasting this obsession, from sleepless Mays, to Denver cold. Somewhere in between, I threw myself away.” Good stuff. But the real artwork comes on the song Modern Chemistry, a little ditty about therapy and psychiatric medicine that goes like this:
“i barely have the motivation
they say i suffer from a lack of serotonin synapses
they happen too
infrequently for me to be functioning properly
i took the pills i took the advice the panic stopped
but still i'm not right”
You work the words serotonin synapses into a song and then call me.
5. Those Sweet Words – Norah Jones, off of Feels Like Home
It’s weird how this CD never got the acclaim of the first one, even though it’s so similar. Anyway, I’ve always liked Norah. Her voice is a warm blanket, or hot chocolate, or a fire in the fireplace or a second glass of red wine or a Crown and water. Ok, maybe the last one’s just for me but seriously, you know what I’m saying. Norah is that warm tingly feeling in your belly. And that’s all I have to say about that.
And in other news, a beautiful and talented new voice has entered this conversation about music, and in turn, life. Laura is, like many of us, a frustrated journalism major searching for a medium to express her ideas and thoughts. And after some encouragement, I think she’s found an excellent venue. Check her newest words out in my link section and give her your love and thoughts in the comments.
Journey is just fantastic. I know, I know, it’s 80s and cheesy and everything but they’re also great for all those same reasons. And really, can you think of a song that has covered this topic in the last 20 years??? No, because it hasn’t been done. When I think of Steve Perry and Journey, I think of some of the hardest partying, groupie shacking rock and rollers out there and it’s hard for me to believe that they wrote a song about how hard it is to be on the road and miss their families and their wives while traveling around and then promising to be forever theirs, faithfully. It just cracks me up. And you know you like it too, stop lying to yourselves.
2. Atomic Dog – George Clinton
Let’s put it this way: Without this song Snoop Dogg has no career. George Clinton has really gotten screwed/left out of this whole forefather of hip-hop conversation. He probably would have made billions in royalties if he was The Beatles, but instead he had his just had his beats robbed from him by the word “sampling” which is somehow different that “stealing.” Puff Daddy alone owes George millions. Let’s move on.
3. Arrive Alive – Before Braille, off of The Rumor
B4B has already made an appearance on the shuffle before so I don’t need to tell you again how much I like them. I was looking at their myspace the other day however and it doesn’t look like they’ll be doing any new stuff anytime soon. That’s pretty upsetting to me but the good news is that Rajiv gets back from his mission any day now so I’m excited to have his guitar skills back in the area. I hope to hear something new and great from him soon. Maybe he can re-energize the guys. The Rumor was their first full-length CD and i’m still really impressed with it. For a local, small label release, it is just mastered and arranged so well. Like I’ve said before, the order of the songs matter so much and I think The Rumor is one of the finest examples of that I’ve found.
4. Autographs & Apologies – Motion City Soundtrack, off of I Am the Movie
You know those CD samplers you get when you buy shoes at Industrial or pick up for free at a concert or festival? Well I got one from Epitaph a while back and it had this super-catchy song called The Future Freaks Me Out by this band called the Motion City Soundtrack. The future was in fact freaking me out at the time so I loaded my car up with stuff and took off for about 3 weeks. On the way out of town I bought this CD and spent the next 3 weeks listening to it, digesting it, singing along with it. It was amazing timing. The struggles that the songwriter was going through and the struggles I was having were common in many way and of course that just sucks you deeper into any album. “Long lasting this obsession, from sleepless Mays, to Denver cold. Somewhere in between, I threw myself away.” Good stuff. But the real artwork comes on the song Modern Chemistry, a little ditty about therapy and psychiatric medicine that goes like this:
“i barely have the motivation
they say i suffer from a lack of serotonin synapses
they happen too
infrequently for me to be functioning properly
i took the pills i took the advice the panic stopped
but still i'm not right”
You work the words serotonin synapses into a song and then call me.
5. Those Sweet Words – Norah Jones, off of Feels Like Home
It’s weird how this CD never got the acclaim of the first one, even though it’s so similar. Anyway, I’ve always liked Norah. Her voice is a warm blanket, or hot chocolate, or a fire in the fireplace or a second glass of red wine or a Crown and water. Ok, maybe the last one’s just for me but seriously, you know what I’m saying. Norah is that warm tingly feeling in your belly. And that’s all I have to say about that.
And in other news, a beautiful and talented new voice has entered this conversation about music, and in turn, life. Laura is, like many of us, a frustrated journalism major searching for a medium to express her ideas and thoughts. And after some encouragement, I think she’s found an excellent venue. Check her newest words out in my link section and give her your love and thoughts in the comments.
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