Monday Morning Shuffle

Sorry for the absence last week, there's not a ton of internet access up here:


However, i did take my iPod and although i tried to spend most of my time listening to the sounds of nature, i did fall asleep each night to The Shins and The Decemberists. They were instrumental in drowning out the waterfall that we camped next to (i don't care what they put on those relaxation CDs, listening to pounding water for 8 hours sucks.) and also my father's snoring. Good times!

On with the shuffle:

1. Chop 'Em Down - Matisyahu, off of Shake Off the Dust...Arise
Maybe it's my Hebrew roots, maybe it's the fact that a Hesidic Jew in full garb is singing reggae, rapping and beat boxing, or maybe it's just because i like good music, but Matisyahu is terrific.
I mean after a weekend of watching Making the Band 4 with my sister, do you realize how rare it is for a musician like this to be noticed and become even the slightest bit mainstream? Just read his Wikipedia entry...this guy has been everywhere, done everything and somehow has become a famous musician while interjecting Old Testament ideas and thoughts into his lyrics...tell me what the odds of that are in today's musical climate??

2. Jambi - Tool, off of 10,000 Days
This is a song to get you jacked up on a Monday Morning. If i was driving (and i guess everyone on the 101 should be glad that i'm not...) i would be drumming on my steering wheel and full on rocking out to this song while stuck in traffic. This is a perfect Monday Morning Shuffle song.
I especially like the voice-box guitar solo towards the end of the song...very Frampton.

3. Eat The Rich - Aerosmith, off of Get a Grip
I believe this is Aerosmith's first turn on the Shuffle...strange how long that took...
So this is one of those teenage-angst anthems i loved in Middle School because of the swear words and that fact that my mom absolutely hated the album cover (the pierced cow udder anyone?) I used to rock out to this song, knew the lyrics by heart and would pump my fist during the ubiquitous "take that Grey Poupon my friend and shove it up your ass!" climax of the song.
Then one day, i looked around at my surroundings and realized, "hey, i'm not living such an under-privileged life here..." and then that lead into my thinking, "Hey, Steven Tyler's probably got some money lying around too...why the hell is he singing about rich people when he's loaded?" And the whole thing just got really hypocritical real fast.
And although i think he was talking about the blueblood, Lifestyles of The Rich And Famous type people and not just people who had a few bucks and although i still love the song and the sentiment, it just got a little weird for me to consider it my anthem.

4. Gone for Good - The Shins, off of Chutes Too Narrow
Of course the shuffle would play a song from a band i've already mentioned once...
Anyway, the thing i'm really starting to like about The Shins is the breadth of their influences. This song is straight country, steel guitar and everything and it's the only song i've heard on 3 different albums that comes even close to sounding like this. You have to have a certain level of respect for a band that will sound completely different from song to song. I know they're not the first ones to do it, but just like Matisyahu, it takes some balls to go that far from the norm. I'm just saying...

5. How I Could Just Kill A Man - Rage Against the Machine, off of Renegades
And now for something completely different... I love when the shuffle does this to me.
This CD was a cop-out full of cover songs but i have to admit that it really did expose me to some music that i never would have listened to otherwise. Rage could have gone with rap covers and some metal/punk stuff but they really dug deep for some of these songs. Some of the bands they covered on this album: Afrika Bambaataa and the Soul-Sonic Force, EPDM, E-40, Bruce Springsteen and Devo...that's right, Devo..the same guys who wore the red pyramid hats and sang Whip It.
This is actually the live version of this song with Zach on stage with B-Real and Sen Dog from the original and mighty Cypress Hill. And before you get all caught up in the fact that i had to stop listening to Eat the Rich because the song was kinda, sorta about me but i can still nod my head to a song about killing cops...well, you'll just have to figure that shit out for yourself.

Thanks for reading.

P.S. Are you guys downloading the music? Does it work? Do you like it? Anyone? Beuller?

Monday Morning Shuffle

I'm about to head into the woods for a 6-day backpacking trip in Wyoming so i won't be here next week. I'm not heading in until next Sunday so maybe i'll try and write next week's a little early or maybe we'll just skip it. I'm not sure yet, we'll see how it goes.
Here's the major question...while i'm packing up my gear, i'm charging up my iPod. I've got some backup headphones that i usually use while running and i was thinking how nice it would be to have some tunes to accompany me on my 14+ mile hike into and out of the mountains...then again, maybe i should just enjoy the sound of the woods and being out with nature and talk with the people i'm going with. That's the point of taking this trip isn't it? To get out of the city life for a while and commune with nature? Kind of a pickle. What do you think? (I think i'm going to take it and not use it unless i absolutely need a pick me up or an escape...can't hurt to have right?)

Oh yeah, and i'm adding a new wrinkle this week. You'll see that the song names are linked now. Click on the links and it'll allow you to actually download the song i'm talking about. Wow...only took me 8 months to figure that out...

Anyway, on with the shuffle:
1. Graceland - Paul Simon, off of Graceland
Due to the "You can Call Me Al" video, ("I can call you Betty, and Betty when you call me, you can call me Al"...seriously, yet another reference...) i can't separate Paul Simon and Chevy Chase in my mind. I just imagine Chevy Chase doing something goofy throughout every song i hear.
This album also has "Diamonds on the Souls of Her Shoes" and a bunch of other recognizable songs on it. A good one to say the least.

2. Street Signs - Ozomatli, off of Street Signs
Apparently we're only going to have title tracks today on the shuffle...
I fell in love with Ozo during the old J5/Chali 2na collaboration on Super Bowl Sundae (as opposed to Chocolate Covered Mondae...thanks Erin) which is still one of my favorite songs. This CD is heavy on the Latin flavor which makes it extremely fun to listen to and basically impossible to understand if you're mono-lingual like me. If anyone can translate Te Estoy Buscando for me, i'd appreciate it.
I love the mix of Spanish sounds with the hip-hop roots...it a different sound than the boom-chick-boom-boom we're so used to hearing on top 40 hip hop and rap. Street Signs isn't their best album, but it's pretty good. And these guys have been around forever too if you didn't notice them before. They've shared the stage with Tribe, De La Soul and others in their careers. (And they have an interesting Wikipedia entry...)

3. What Am I To You? - Norah Jones, off of Feels Like Home
I've said this before but Norah still melts my heart... There's just this warmth to her voice that feels like hot coco or whiskey or something. I know that you know what i'm talking about.
I'd like for her to call me and leave a voicemail in that voice. That would be spectacular. I need to date a musician. She would write songs about sleeping with me and make inside jokes for me in the liner notes of her album. This needs to happen...

4. Every Little Thing She Does is Magic - The Police, off of The Classics
Two stories:
1. I was watching Office reruns the other night and the episode where Phyllis gets married was on and Kevin's band, "Scrantonicity" was playing...and all they played was Police songs. It killed me for some reason...partly because it was just so stereotypical of weddings and wedding bands, but also because they just didn't have any other material. Top notch.
2. On April Fool's Day every year, the ASU student newspaper, The State Press, released a joke edition called The Stale Mess, in which they'd do their best Onion impression and make up headlines about the school and make fun of the city, etc. So one year, instead of the usual Police Beat article, it was "The Police" beat...and every story tied in with a song...as in "A woman was arrested Tuesday night on suspicion of witchcraft. One eyewitness claimed that everything the woman did was magic, and everything she did just turned me on.
Someone was also charged with littering Tempe Town Lake after sending out a message in a bottle and then finding a hundred million bottles washed upon the shore...
Classic.

5. Keep On Loving You - REO Speedwagon
I can't say anything about this song that will make it any better. Just download it (especially if you're at the office) and turn up your speakers. EVERYONE wants to start their Monday morning with this song.
I just cranked up the speakers and i'm lip-syncing into a pen and i didn't even bother to shut the door to my office.
If this doesn't get you pumped up to be alive, then you're probably dead and should call 911 immediately.

Have a good week(s). If i'm not back in two weeks, just wait longer.

The Monday Morning Shuffle

Thanks to everyone that came to my party last week. When i made that post about the importance of it and the songs that were catching my ear leading up to it, i was shitting my pants, to say the least. The night turned out amazing. Everything went off completely as i had hoped and i had so much fun. I hope everyone that came had a great time too. The music was amazing...check out myspace.com/djtoad to hear a track or two from our DJ that night. And if you're interested in the apparel at all, it's all posted at kwblack.com.

On with the shuffle:

1. Wearing Thin - Further Seems Forever, off of The Moon is Down
Didn't i just talk about songs that are intrinsically tied to moments a few weeks ago? This is another one.
I guess i hadn't thought of this one in a while but i once made a valiant attempt to be honorable using the words to this song. It didn't work out quite like i had planned, but i guess the offer still stands also. Ha ha. Yikes.
Anyway, this is a song from the Chris Caraba days of FSF and i gotta say, i liked those ones the best.

2. Scavenger Type - NOFX, off of Punk in Drublic
Oh, silly punk bands trying to be folky, how you amuse me.
But let's be real for a second...NOFX was one of the better and more influential punk bands of our time. They made a lot of good music and talked about a lot of political and socio-economic statements (as the do in this song) that has really been missing in todays popular music. And Punk in Drublic was one of my first Punk albums, so there's a spot in my heart for it. Take a look at this album if you can...it'll only take you about 20 minutes to get through the entire thing...another beautiful thing about punk music...1:30 second songs!

3. Ticks & Leeches - Tool, off of Lateralus
Have i done my top 5 list of best musical screams ever? I know i've been thinking about it for a while, i guess i've just never gotten to it. Well, anyway, this song has an unhuman scream in it. How that sound came out of a man's throat, i'll never know.
Top 3 Screams Because i Can't Think of 5:
5. My Heart - Paramore, off of All We Know Is Falling (at the 2:42 mark)
4.
3.
2. Ticks & Leaches - Tool (at the 1:10 mark)
1. Won't Get Fooled Again - The Who (at the 7:45 mark)

2. Burn One Down - Ben Harper, off of Live from Mars
I don't even smoke pot (cough, cough...anymore...cough) and i love this song. And without getting into too much of the argument about this natural occuring plant's legality, he makes some good points in this song about the freedom to do what you want as long as you're not messing with or hurting other people. Now, you could argue that you're affecting others even if you're sitting on your couch, stoned, demolishing a bag of doritos, but that's another conversation for another time. For now, let's just enjoy the hippy drum beats and singing out against the man.

1. Ghost Song - The Doors
Speaking of hippy songs...Well i went nuts to other day and downloaded a crap load of Doors songs because i didn't think that i had enough in my collection. And this is definitely a weird one. It's got the typical Doors sound but with this kinda upbeat new age melody going on with it and Mr. Morrison doing some kind of trippy incoherent spoken word thing. Yeah, i think i'll find Light My Fire or Break on Through and stick to that...

Kevo and Ron are having a good conversation about the Top 10 hiphop albums over on their blogs so i'll probably throw my hat into that ring some time this week. In the mean time, check out their posts.

Monday Morning Shuffle

Sorry about this morning. Some things have been set in motion to ensure that years to come, i will be dictating this blog to my personal assistant while having my morning B, BJ and BR (figure it out for yourselves...) instead of typing it myself.

Will i still write the shuffle when i'm fabulously wealthy? Good question. I guess we'll see. (Going on a year by the way...)

On with the shuffle:
1. Zealots - The Fugees, off of The Score
I almost skipped this song. We've talked about the Fugees before. We've talked about how this is one of the finest hip-hop albums ever created. We've talked about how much i love Lauryn Hill and how i miss her. So what else is there? Well, nothing. But this is my favorite song on the album and if you have it, you should listen to it. And if you don't have it, go get the entire CD.

2. 500 Miles - Social Distortion
Man, i hate this song. But i love Social D covers. For some reason, they just do good work. I highly recommend Ring Of Fire and I Fought The Law.

3. Televators - The Mars Volta, off of De-Loused in the Comatorium
Lot's of repeats today but they're all good songs and we haven't talked about them before so we'll stick with it.
This is one of my favorite songs on this album...it starts of slow and has this methodical way about it. The lyrics are considerably creepy in the way that only the Mars Volta can be and it gradually gains steam and leads into the final song of the album. Since this is a concept album and all the songs lead into the next, it is kinda tough to separate one song in particular but this was always a segment of this album that made me stop and listen. There is also this meandering guitar through the song that you have to dig underneath the vocals to hear but it's one of those parts that is almost fun to follow.
If you don't have this album, well, i just don't know what to tell you.

4. Each Coming Night - Iron & Wine, off of Our Endless Numbered Days
I actually don't hate this song. I mean i knew there had to be a few in their collection that i could enjoy, i just didn't think it'd take me this long to find.
I don't get it. What's with the whispering. Just belt it out for fuck's sake! Unless you don't have a good voice, and then you shouldn't be a musician in the first place (with apologies to Bob Dylan).

5. Get Rhythm - Johnny Cash
This is one of my favorite Cash songs. Stop reading this and go listen to it. Great tune if you're stressed or in a bad mood.

Wow...that was uninspired. My apologies. That my friends, is why we do the Shuffle in the morning. I'll try harder next week.

Monday Morning Shuffle

My life has been insane lately. Great, but insane. There's something going on pretty much every moment of every day... I have this party going on,


I am out all the time trying to promote it, i'm working like 6 days a week and by the time i go out at night to pass out flyers and meet with people, i'm "working" like 18 hours a day...and i'm not complaining at all. I love it. I really do. This isn't me bitching about it. I'm having the time of my life and no matter how busy or how stressful it gets, i still find myself with a huge smile on my face. When i used to work hard for someone else, i was bitter that my effort was benefiting someone else's pocketbook. Now that my effort is 100% my own, it's just a night and day difference. But, no matter how much fun i'm having, it's still pretty exhausting and i find myself wired at all hours of the day, all jacked up on Red Bull and feeling about as bugged out as a speed-addict with a bad case of ADD and an unlimited Starbucks gift card. The only other time i've really felt this is during my frequent trips to Las Vegas...whether it's for fun or for business, when i'm in that town i find myself so overstimulated that i often have overwhelming cravings for just 5 quiet minutes without flashing lights or naked ladies or a drink in my hand.
When i get the chance, i throw on my Bose soundproof headphones and pick one good song to just absorb that allows me to check out for a few. Anyone who has roomed with me there has seen it. It's an absolute must when i'm in that town...and apparently it's becoming a must in Phoenix too.
Friday, i asked in a myspace bulletin what people listened to in order to chill out...i was listening to Imogen Heap at the time, but here are some of the suggestions i received: Sigur Ros, Radiohead, Pink Floyd, Joshua Radin, Cary Brothers, Regina Spektor and Iron and Wine. Some of these i have, some of these i'll be checking out. If you see something that should be on this list, let me know in the comments. If you see me with my headphones on and my eyes closed...just give me 5 minutes and i'll be right with you.

On with the shuffle:

1. That Girl is Poison - Bel Biv Devoe
This song keeps popping up in my life ever since Mos Def performed it in February. I hadn't heard it in a long time, but now it frequents my iPod and my party mixes. The DJs at the clubs seem to be playing it a lot more recently than i remember as well. Weird how that happens. Anyway, this song is great, good harmonies, lyrics i can agree with and a rock-hard classic beat.

2. I Could Die For You - Red Hot Chili Peppers, off of By The Way
This album was totally underrated. It has been completely missed and ignored. I don't know why, but nobody thinks anything happened between Californication and Stadium Arcadium, and they couldn't be more wrong. This CD, while it didn't have the epic stature of the two aforementioned albums, was very very good and worth every bit as much time as the others. And like many of the RHCP albums i have, i purchased it at the beginning of the summer, right as i was about to take a road trip to Wyoming. Ever song on this CD reminds me of some part of that summer, this song in particular bringing to mind a drive from Pinedale to Jackson Hole, with the sun shining the windows down and a very slow RV teetering through the canyon on its way to Yellowstone, doing everything in its power to keep me from passing it...

3. Muhammad Walks - Lupe Fiasco
This is the Jesus Walks beat but with Lupe rapping about the muslim prophet Muhammad instead of Jesus...a pretty interesting take and, because he helped do the production on the original, he has the rights to the beat.
Whatever power you believe in, this beat is amazing no matter what they're rapping about and since Lupe kicks a bunch of ass, it's worth checking it out.

4. Blue Mind - Alexi Murdoch
Something tells me i've written about this song before but i can't find any record of it and i really like this song, so we'll talk about it.
There's some intangible quality about his voice...i'm not sure if it's an accent, or just a way of enunciating certain words, but it makes everything he says sound more important and poignant. And this song really reminds me of something that would have been on the Braveheart soundtrack. Bad ass movie=good song. If you haven't had a chance to listen to Alexi, i definitely recommend it. He's a good one out the "guy and his guitar" set and an excellent choice for those 5 minute music refreshers i mentioned earlier.

5. Do It Now - Mos Def, off of Black on Both Sides
Mos teams up with Busta Rhymes for one of the most poppy songs on the entire album. It's interesting to hear how talented Busta Bust is when he's not just accompanying Janet Jackson or some shit. I mean, he and Mos go back and forth and you can almost feel the energy of their collaboration through the CD. I would have liked to have been a fly on the wall of this recording session...i just wonder what Busta Rhymes is like in real life. Do you think he's that excited all the time? Hoo Haa!

Monday Morning Shuffle

A few things before we get started.

A. So, I'm starting piano lessons again and i'm ready to actually commit this time. I have far fewer distractions, a lot more time on my hands and with my new lifestyle changes, a few more dollars to spend towards an actual piano in my house to practice on. I'm making a CD of good piano tunes for Ashley, my friend and teacher, to transpose for me to play and practice. Playing a simplified version of Piano Man is a lot more fun than Mary Had a Little Lamb, trust me. So here's a brief synopsis of the CD i'm making for her:
1. Sweet Caroline - Neil Diamond (a bar classic)
2. Piano Man - Billy Joel (another barroom classic)
3. Don't Stop Believing - Journey (after The Sopranos finale, this song will bring the house down)
4. The Luckiest - Ben Folds (for the ladies...)
5. Brothers On A Hotel Bed - Death Cab for Cutie (this song kills me, i could play the intro over and over)
6. Scenes From An Italian Restaurant - Billy Joel (one of my favorites)
7. Clocks - Coldplay (not my favorite band, but a good piano song)
8. Colorblind - Counting Crows (this song breaks hearts...)
9. Riders on the Storm - The Doors (i know it's a keyboard, but this song kicks ass.)
10. Something in The Way She Moves - James Taylor (not that i could do it justice...)
11. A Boy Named Sue - Johnny Cash (can't wait to sing along to this one)
12. Nightswimming - REM (just sounds good, even if nobody knows what it is)

Let me know if you have any suggestions. I'm definitely open to them.

B. There are 2 new shows coming out, one on Fox, one on NBC (i think) that are these karaoke shows in which the contestant wins by knowing the words to songs. They play the song, the person starts singing the words and then they turn the music off and the person keeps singing, or they're expected to say the next line. Why wasn't i informed that these shows were happening?!? Is there some kind of web site in which they look for contestants for these things that i don't know about? Did they identify me as a threat to their bank accounts and blacklist me? I WOULD DESTROY THESE SHOWS! I'm figuring out how to get on one of them as soon as i finish writing this.

On with the shuffle:
1. House of The Rising Sun - Bob Dylan
Is it possible to have a worse voice and still have the song sound amazing? I think no.
I mean, his voice just sounds awful, but it's so perfect at the same time. I've heard this song done a thousand different ways and by a thousand different voices and while i love The Doors' version, this one is really growing on me. I think that Dylan's voice just fits the rawness and pain of the context of this song. It sounds like the song you'd hear if you just jumped a train or were sitting around a campfire with some other downtrodden folk. It just sounds like it's from another time period altogether.

2. Captain Jack - Billy Joel
A terrific Billy Joel song about drugs and women and trying to be cool and all the stuff that make being a rock star so kickass. Is it just me or is this song the musical equivalent of Boogie Nights?

3. Stay or Leave - Dave Mathews, off of Some Devil
Some songs are inescapably connected to moments in our lives. Some good, some bad, it doesn't matter, but for those of us who view music as the soundtrack of our lives, you know what i'm talking about. It's almost symbiotic. There are songs the make me actually feel guilt, pain, happiness, goosebumps, etc. Interesting that music has this physiological affect on us...
Top 5 Songs that Completely Rip My Heart Out:
5. Brothers on a Hotel Bed - Death Cab
4. Rough Draft - Yellowcard
3. Mess - Ben Folds
2. Stay Or Leave - Dave Mathews
1. Colorblind - Counting Crows

4. American Pie - Don McLean
Totally forgot this one on the piano mix CD. I'll have to add it to the 2nd one. This is a terrific bar and sing-a-long song that any decent barroom piano player (and really, that's all i aim to be) should know.
One summer in Wyoming, my mom, brother, sister and I went on a hike up to some lake. My mom promised that there would be fishing at the lake and that it wasn't far. My sister and her mounted their horses and took off down the trail. My brother and i, having refused to ever ride (horses smell, are a pain to take care of and miserable to ride if you have testicles...) so we strapped our fishing stuff to our backs and started walking. Eight miles later we caught up at the lake, fished for about 18 minutes before realizing that there were either no fish, or they didn't want what we had, and turned around and headed back down the trail. Well i don't know how many of you have walked 16 miles in one day (not to mention 8 uphill and 8 downhill) but there's not a whole lot you can do to avoid being uncomfortable at some point. Your socks get sweaty, you get blisters, the packs start to rub your back raw, your calves and toes start to hurt from walking downhill and accidentally kicking rocks...so you do what you can to pass the time and take your mind off it. Somehow i managed to bet my brother that between the two of us, we could put together every single word of this song in order..and so for a few hours on the way back to the truck we sang and sang and argued about whether the marching band refused to yield before or after jack flash sat on the candle stick...good times.

5. Let's Get High - Dr. Dre, off of Chronic 2001
Normally, i would skip this song...there's just not that much that can be said about it, and for one reason or another, i don't think this song really connects with the target audience of this blog...call me crazy.
Anyway, the reason it's being included is because there's a story behind it. Back in my senior year of high school, when i had a whole lot of jack shit to do, Danny Bogen and I would go run the bleachers or the track at Horizon at night. Inevitably, our parents realized we were at the school and logically could pick our brothers up from Marching Band practice since we were already there. So Danny and i would do our thing and then sit in the car listening to music, waiting for them. One night, there are about 30 other parents in the parking lot, all waiting for their kids and Danny grabs the Chronic 2001 cd...we're listening to it at a reasonable volume level and then this song comes on...for those of you who don't know, here are the lyrics to the first few lines of this song: "All the niggas and all these hoes is here/somebody here's gonna fuck." So what does Danny do as he sees Nole, Ron and Jack walking towards the parking lot? Of course he blasts it. I'm in my old Suburban, so Nole and Ron come running up, jump on the running boards and start rocking the shit out of my truck, thus directing even more attention to the complete vulgarity of the music we're playing ... and then come our little brothers, absolutely mortified at how we're acting in front of all the other kids and their parents. (Of course, we were the cool kids on campus, so we were actually making them cooler simply by being associated with us...) Makes me laugh every time.

Alright, have a great week. Enjoy music.

The Monday Morning (ok, Night) Shuffle

Sorry this took me so long to get to. I had an insane morning, there was just no way i could take the time out to write it. My apologies.
This will also be interesting because these will not be the first 5 songs of my day, as they typically have been, instead, i have listened to music a lot today and this will be the last 5 songs of my day. Could be interesting....

On with the shuffle:
1. Fuck You Slowly - Tenacious D
No little kids read this right? Right?
Funny that this song came on because i just happened to make a pilgrimage back to Mill Avenue and The Big Bang Saturday night. It was probably the first time since i graduated that i was back hanging out with the college kids, raising a glass (of water) and singing my lungs out to the dueling pianos. That place is still fun, even if i felt like 420 years old.
Well they play that song at the Big Bang, because it's just generally an awesome song to play in a room full of 20-somethings that are drinking and hoping to end up sharing body heat with someone later in the evening.
Great song, great subject matter. No art needed. Just come right out and say it. HAHA. I've probably heard it 500 times, and it still makes me laugh. (also appropriate given the title of this blog and the Jack Black connection that lay theirin...if you don't know what i'm talking about, stop reading and go watch High Fidelity. Don't come back until you do. Seriously, i'm not even joking.)

2. In The Cold Cold Night - The White Stripes, off of Elephant
This song is surprisingly beautiful and enjoyable. I've NEVER liked the White Stripes, not even a bit. But not there are 2 songs on this CD that i like and i'm wondering if, like a virus, this CD is starting to spread a little bit. I don't think i'll ever completely like it, but it is growing on me.
I was kinda writing the last few sentences of the last song as this one came on, and i didn't immediately recognize it...so i open up iTunes to see what it is and i was pretty surprised with the result.

3. No Joy In Mudville - Death Cab For Cutie, off of We Have The Facts And We're Voting Yes
Mostly, i really like Death Cab. This song is not working for me. Too slow, too many effects and weird sounds. I'm sure i'd love it in the flow of the entire album, it just isn't working for me in this venue. It's actually actively bothering me. I'm hitting next. I never do this.

4. Cambridge - Motion City Soundtrack, off of I Am The Movie
So i've often spoke of the traits of my favorite CDs...a good flow from song to song, how the organization is important, how the first song - like a lead-off hitter in baseball - can set the tone for an entire album, and if the first song doesn't work, it can ruin an album. So let's do a little top 5 of best Track 1's, Side 1's in my uneducated opinion:
5. Bombtrack - Rage Against The Machine
4. Black Dog - Led Zep IV
3. Enter Sandman - Metallica, Metallica
2. Son Et Lumiere - The Mars Volta, De-loused in the Comatorium
1. Welcome To The Jungle - Guns and Roses, Appetite For Destruction

There are a ton more we could list, but these were all Lead-off Homeruns. Now let's talk about this song: IT'S A TOTAL STRIKEOUT! I bought this CD because i liked one song off of an epitaph CD sampler and i put it on at the beginning of a road trip, and this song was just putrid. Almost ruined the trip...but i forged through it and I can say that i've liked every single one of their songs on 2 cds since this song. That's 25 out of 26 songs that i've loved, and 1 that i can't listen to at all. How the hell did that happen?

5. Carry On - Crosby, Stills and Nash

This is one of my favorite CSN songs of all time. Between this one and "Lee Shore" these are really the only two songs that i'll actively search out and listen to on purpose. This song has this raging guitar intro that would absolutely thrash were it not played on an acoustic guitar. Then there's this little break down section in the middle that is almost jazzy, with the 3 men succeeding in sounding like a 25-person chorus in the high-harmony that is so characteristic of their finest music. A terrific song all around, and a perfect way to end the Monday Night Shuffle.

Goodnight all.

Monday Morning Shuffle

Alright, busy day today. Lot's going on. Let's just get right down to it.

1. Flesh Into Gear - CKY, off of Infiltrate.Destroy.Rebuild
Most of you are familiar with CKY's sound from countless hours of watching Jackass. Bam's brother Jess is the drummer of this band and Jackass (and Bam) really got their start from being complete idiots on these promo videos called, creatively, CKY. If you haven't seen them, and you want to explore the roots of Bam, The Margera family, some sick skating and the performance art chaos that these fine individuals have perfected, then go find CKY, CKY2k, CKY3 and most importantly, Landspeed. Landspeed started it all...very few people know this. Also, CKY stands for Camp Kill Yourself.
As far as the band goes, i really like them. They rock for the sake of rocking. They have a crisp metal sound that doesn't go over the top in its brutality and i really like the sound of the lead singer's voice. They do some pretty unique things with effects and lyrics and they're definitely worth a listen. Some of it is actually rather catchy.

2. Don't Drag Me Down - Social Distortion, off of White Light, White Heat, White Trash
Last week, I decided to go nuts and download every Social D and Deftones song i could find. I was honestly surprised that the RIAA police didn't knock down my door that very moment. These are two bands that have massively obsessed followings that i never got into myself. I decided to give them a chance.
I've always liked Social D for the same reasons i like CKY above. They just rock for the sake of rocking. Let's get everything up tempo, let's get some good hard guitar going, let's beat the drums until our knuckles bleed and lets sing the lyrics like we've got an extra set of vocal chords, if we ruin these ones.
This song is no different. Good solid rock and roll fundamentals...verse, chorus, verse, guitar solo, chorus, done. I love it.

3. Free Bird, Lynrd Skynyrd
Jesus, am i over my head now or what? How do i write about this song? How do i even put it into context? Which part of the 10:07 do i talk about?
Ok, i figured out what to talk about: Why do people yell 'Play Freebird!!' at every concert? A simple google search proves that other people have spent quite a bit of time thinking about this very thing...in fact, the Wall Street Friggin Journal wrote quite a few words about it.
My favorite "Play Freebird!" moment happened a few months back when i was at the Mos Def show in Brooklyn. It was kinda quiet, Mos took a ton of time in between songs, looking at the set list, talking to the musicians, taking his jacket off, drinking water, talking to the audience...so he walks up to the mic after what had to be 3-4 minutes of silence and right as he's about to say something, someone yells it...Mos immediately cracks up, stumbles back a few steps and then just sits down in the middle of the stage with his head in his hands, laughing his ass off. I think he laid down at one point, and then gets up, walks back to the mic and says, "Fucking Free Bird???" and they go into the next song. Hilarious.
(and because it deserves mentioning, i pulled up google, did the search, read the article, wrote my little story about it and already typed the number 4 for the next song before Freebird finished...)

4. The Arcade Fire - Neighborhood 3 (Power Out), off of Funeral
I could have sworn i talked about this song in a shuffle before but it turns out that i haven't. I did mention it a week or two back in my Beats, Part 1 post.
This is without a doubt my favorite Arcade Fire song to date...it just rocks. I love the sound of it, the beat and the guitar. This is a song you can dance to. I really fell in love with it one night at The Hard Rock casino in Vegas when i was there with Nole, Ron and Jesse for the POOL show. We had met some other guys from the show and they had driven us over to the casino to hit another bar (we had been at The Palms and it sucked). As we were walking in from the parking garage, this song was playing over the main stereo and i asked the guy i was walking next to what he thought of the band, since i was still deciding if i liked them or not. He gave me a great explanation (although i'll be damned to remember what it was.) and the song just struck me as awesome as we walked through the casino listening to it.
Oh, and here's the inspiration for the song...

5. Every Ghetto, Every City - Lauryn Hill, off of The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill
Again, i'm out of my league here. This song, this CD, this artist, is just flat out amazing and nothing i can say can do it justice.
This is one of my favorite songs on the album, just because her voice is so alluring and the beat is such a toe-tapper. It's just good.
Come back Lauryn. We need you. (i'd take a solo cd, a Fugees reunion, anything.)

Alright, that turned out pretty well. Wish i had some more time to discuss, maybe i'll come back tonight and add to it.

Have a good Monday.

Monday Morning Shuffle

So i open iTunes yesterday to listen to something while i'm working and guess what? It's gone. I mean...there's nothing there. I have no songs, no videos, no explanation. So i frantically click over to my iTunes folder where everything is stored and sigh with relief that all the files are there. So what happened? iTunes just decided it didn't want my library anymore and dumped it. I have no explanation. So anyway, i imported the library again, which is still in shambles because of my complete deletion a few weeks back, and end up with about 1,000 more songs than i had. At first, i said, "Great, it found some stuff i forgot to add." Until i started scrolling through and noticing double and triples of a ton of stuff. Not everything, but enough to make a difference. Anyway, my OCD kicked in and spent the next 2 hours with a focus unlike i ever have and completely retraced and reorganized everything. I deleted most of the doubles and triples completely off my computer, freeing up about a gig of space. Let's hope i didn't kill anything important.

On with the shuffle,

1. This Ain't A Scene, It's an Arms Race - Fall Out Boy, Infinity on High
I started here on purpose because i know i'm the only one here that consistently likes them. And i have no idea why. You know that i'm usually the first one to write off a band that the masses like, especially after that awful Verizon commercial with the meathead lifting and sweaty and listening to it on his phone and then getting a call from his "babe" all the while forgetting to spot his friend on the bench. I mean, that's usually the breaking point for me. But here i am, enjoying yet another guilty pleasure from the most sold-out band available today. Part of me is ashamed, and part of me doesn't really give a shit. It's poppy and fun to listen to and sing along with. Sometimes you need that...i can't sing along with Sigur Ros. (besides, you all have your guilty pleasures too. I know it so i won't feel too bad.)
Anyway, so far, i like this album. It sounds like all the other ones, and talks about the same exact shit. But like i said, it's catchy, poppy and you can sing with it. When my windows are down (not really an option now that we've hit summer) flying up the 101, this is what i'll be listening to.

2. Chi-City - Common, off of Be
Common is one of my favorites. It's been welllllll documented. I love his voice and his delivery. He sounds so relaxed on the mic, it almost sounds like a saxophone or a soulful trumpet just being played casually by an expert in complete control. He never sounds too bored or too excited. It's a unique sound out of the genre.
My favorite lines in this song:
A black figure, in the middle of chaos and gun fire/So many raps about rims, I'm surprised n***** ain't become tires/On the street you turn code and then go screech/I tell em fuck em, like I do the police/The beast in runnin' rampant/I'm in between sheets tryna have sex that's tantric/But the ghetto, trying to make a get up, stand up anthem/You spit hot garbage son of Sanford/What you rappin' for to get fame or get rich?/I slap a n***** like you/And tell him Rick James bitch.

3. Cat Power - Satisfaction
This was one of the suggestions way back in November 06 (jesus, has it been that long?), when i threw together a hastily prepared and ill-conceived top 5 list of favorite covers.
I like this song a bunch. I love it when people take covers and completely make them their own, almost so it could have been the original song and nobody would have been any the wiser...
I also like the fact that she never sings that chorus. It's a tease...you want it to be there...you expect it to be there...and it never comes. It's like a secret she thinks about telling you and then decides not to. It drives me crazy and keeps me coming back for more. I've always had a thing for teases.

4. The Patient - Tool, off of Lateralus
This is just another good song on what has to be the best Tool album...and since there really is nothing specific to talk about...let's tell a story.
We talked on our group blog about what it was like back in the day to invite friends over to listen to music. Not to watch a movie or do something else, but to literally come over just to listen to an album. I couldn't remember the last time i did this until i heard this song. I have no idea what grade it was but Nole came over, and i'm pretty sure that some of the girls were with him, but i can't remember because Nole and i were so into listening to the bass lines and the drum bits that we weren't paying attention to anyone else. I can remember Nole sitting at the head of my parent's kitchen table, during the opening to Schism, trying to explain to the girls what kind of technique the guy must have used to create that sound because, at the time, there was no conceivable way that the bassist had enough fingers to play that opening. Anyway, he stands up, and he has his arms out like he's playing a bass and he's demonstrating in only the way Nole can when he's excited and everytime i hear that song, i'll think of it.

5. Hear You Me - Jimmy Eat World, off of Bleed American
Speaking of nostalgia...this song has such an old school quality to it that even though i didn't hear it until my junior year of college (maybe even senior), it still takes me back to moments in high school. There's just something about the reflective quality of it.
This song is about these 2 girls, in the midwest i think, who worked or hung out at a venue and apparently were really cool to all of the small travelling acts, giving them places to stay, feeding them, giving them goodie bags for the road, etc. After hearing Nole talk about touring and how some people just came out of the woodwork to be cool (and how sometimes you just had to straight up ask kids if you could crash....ha ha.) this song means a lot more to me. Anyway, i guess these two girls were very cool to Jim and the band and when they died in a car accident, the band wrote this song for them. "Hear you me" is something that one of the girls used to say a lot apparently. And i'm writing this without researching it, but i'm pretty sure when i read about it, there were a few other bands with songs about these same girls. Apparently they made an impact on a lot of people. May angels lead them in.

It's a federal holiday and i'm still doing to shufflle...and in the morning no less... Now that's dedication.

Much love. Have a great holiday.

Monday Morning Shuffle: The Hand Picked Edition

It's hard to write the shuffle in the morning if you don't wake up until noon. And yes, i have a job that i probably should have gotten up and gone to, don't remind me. But last night i went to a bar in Old Town Scottsdale that i've been meaning to check out for a while. Martini Ranch has this 80s cover band called Metalhead that puts on the outfits and the wigs and pleather pants (complete with the lead singer holding a vodka bottle, assumingly full of water, that he carries around with him on stage...) and rocks out to all of your favorite 80s big hair hits.
Given that admitting you have a problem is the first step to overcoming it, i'm going to tell you that i have an unhealthy obsession with cover bands. I want to be in one, i want to play at crappy little bars for 4 people and sing my favorite songs and use someone else's talent and hard work to make myself look like a rockstar. So i have an addiction to cover bands...watching them, being in them, whatever. (Seriously though if you want to be in a cover band with me, e-mail me here: adammack.wright@gmail.com. I'm dead friggin serious. I can sing but can't play guitar or piano to save my life. I can play percussion though and i would definitely give Christopher Walken more than enough cowbell. Call me, please.)
Also, my other problem in need of admitting is that the only musical pleasure i have that is guiltier than liking Fall Out Boy is 80s hair music. I love it. And i'm not ashamed. I own VH1's sounds of the 80s and i've seen Ratt, Poison, Warrant, Quiet Riot, Slaughter, Great White, Bon Jovi, Kiss, Journey (Greatest band ever? Discuss.), Def Lepard and more in concert. I mean, come on. If you're going to go out and be overserved can you think of any music you'd rather hear? I can't. So anyway, that's why the shuffle is a little late today. And i feel awful...i have no voice and i'm definitely having the sweats and shakes. Totally worth it. Might do it again next sunday even.

So today i'm going to do something different. I usually get up early and write the shuffle at home using my iTunes on my computer. Well today, since i was running late, i decided to write it at work and ended up having the first 5 songs of my day be played on my iPod in the car. I heard some good songs that i want to talk about and so instead of being completely random today, i'm going to pick good ones that i want to talk about. Probably more fun that way anyway.

Anyway, on with the shuffle.

1. Know Your Enemy - Rage Against the Machine, off of Rage Against the Machine
Zach, where the hell have you been? We needed you more than ever over the last 8 years and you just straight up abandoned us. 9-11, Katrina, Iraq, Bush...seriously. We needed your guidance. I needed your fistpumping, angst-filled lyrics to get me through some tough times and you blew it. I'm mad at you and you need to make it up to me. Lecture over.
So another great story about this song and Rage...in high school Ron, Nole, Keegan (and maybe Adam Mortemore?) were supposed to play for this assembly. The theme of the whole thing was America and we were going to put this medley together of patritotic songs (Neil Diamond, Lee Greenwood, etc.) and rock out. Well the more we talked about it and messed around, the more we thought that we didn't really like the way things were being handled in our country and that it would really ruffle some feathers if we walked out and played some Rage Against the Machine instead. We picked this song, learned it, practiced, had it completely perfect and then completely chickened out. That's all i can think of whenever i hear this song....good times.

2. Don't Let Money Change Ya - Blackalicious
I've always loved this song. Banging beat with a bunch of different layers and tempos and the hook is really what makes it (I can't explain it...you'll have to listen to it.) Gift of Gab is one of the most talented MC's i've ever heard...just listen to the track Alphabet Aerobics for an idea...and he doesn't swear or talk about bling...he just flows and flows with these super intelligent and creatively rhymed lyrics. He's relatively political too which you know i don't mind...He did a track called Release with Zach De La Rocha and Saul Williams on the Blazing Arrow album that is totally amazing and you should check out also.
This song tells the story or a rapper coming up in the game, his success going to his head and his inevitable fall. Gift of Gab says the person's name is Sisqo, but i have no idea if he's talking about the Thong Song guy or not. That would be pretty ballsy i guess.
Anyway, if you like Kweli or Mos or Kanye definitely check out Blackalicious.

3. Goodbye Sky Harbor - Jimmy Eat World, off of Clarity
I'm not a huge Clarity fan to be honest ... not as big as some i know (the obsession borders on Radiohead-like for some people i've talked to...) but this song is one of my favorite Jimmy songs of all time. All 16 minutes of it. And i didn't even really appreciate it until after i read "A Prayer for Owen Meany." It's an amazing book that i know all of you who read this would really appreciate and Goodbye Sky Harbor's lyrics are taken directly for the book. I actually put it on when i read the last few pages of the book...it was a cool cross of mediums that i highly suggest.

4. The Widow - The Mars Volta, off of Frances the Mute
I once got a lapdance to this song...true story... and in Anchorage, Alaska no less. And it's completely irrelevant but can you think of a more random set of circumstances to connect you to a song? Because i can't.
The best part about it is that i would have never ever thought this song was sexy before but given that context...it's kind of a sexy song to me now...in a Nine Inch Nails - Closer kinda way...just dark and melodic and the girl had jet black hair and was kinda dark and melodic herself and now i have a Pavlovian response to it.
I told the girl after the dance that i really loved the song and that it was probably the most random song to hear in a strip club ever and she said, "Yeah, and i just love the girl's voice too." AND COMPLETELY RUINED IT FOR ME. That's the last time i give a stripper musical credit.

5. Brothers on a Hotel Bed - Death Cab for Cutie, off of Plans
This song never ceases to blow my mind. It is primarily my reason for wanting to learn piano, just so i can sit down in a bar or at a friend's house and play the first few chords of it and tear everyone's heart out with the beauty of those first few notes.

And that's all their is to say about that.

I'll leave you with a gift: A New Lauryn Hill song!

Have fun out there kids.

Monday Morning Shuffle

What a fun musical weekend. Last Thursday i decided that my computer needed a tune up and some routine maintenance. So i backed up all 20 gigs of music from my computer to my external hard drive and then deleted it. Yup, all 20 gigs, right off of my computer. That was a pretty scary "yes" button to click when the computer asked, "Are you sure you want to delete 'my music' and everything it contains?" But i went with it, confident that everything was backed up safely on the external drive. Well everything went smoothly until i tried to move all the music back onto my computer. You see, when i download music or someone sends me a CD, it is automatically saved to my external drive, then i drag it over to my computer, listen to it and then either keep it or delete it. The problem arose because as a result of this practice, i've ended up with somewhere near 30Gbs of music on the external and only room for 20Gb on my computer...so when i clicked and dragged it only copied about 2/3rds of the library back on my computer. From there i had to manually go through and delete some things (i have a lot of stand-up comedy and books on tape for road trip purposes) and then manually add in the other 1/3rd of my library until iTunes stopped shoving all those little exclamation points at me. It probably took about 10 hours collectively including the time it took to copy files over (the little ticker would say there were 4 minute remaining and then it would take 20...). So a lot of fun was had reorganizing and restructuring the folder, and also contemplating what music i have on my iTunes that i absolutely never listen to and can delete forever without even regretting. So that may have to be a blog post of its own...we'll call it, "Stuff I Deleted And Couldn't Care Less About." Could be fun, could start some fights, we'll see if i get to it.

Also, Courtney sent me a link to this web site today...it's a site where people can write in and report on things they've overheard other people say. Courtney lives in Brooklyn (Bitties in the BK Lounge!) so her favorite part of the site is "Overheard in New York" (they also have overheard in the office, overheard at the beach, etc.). Emo jokes never get old, so today's Overheard in New York post is hilarious. Find it here: Really, What Else is There to be Sad About?

Anyway, on with the shuffle:

1. Mississippi Queen - Mountain
This song has everything...a catchy hook, ripping guitar and a really really healthy dose of Cowbell...and that's what everyone needs, more cowbell.
I used to work in a warehouse packing boxes in high school and we either listened to conservative talk radio all day or sometimes i would switch it to the Classic Rock station just to preserve my sanity. Well this song, at the time, was pretty much played hourly. You've heard it, i know you have, you just don't know it. Download it and you'll be like, "Damn, Adam was right, i've definitely heard that song 50 times."
And one final note, who names their band "Mountain"??? There are no bands called River, or Tree, or Planet, so why Mountain? That's like having the balls to change your name from Gordon to Sting...oh wait.

2. Drunkship of Lanterns - The Mars Volta, off of De-Loused in the Comatorium
Norah Jones came on and i skipped it because after Mountain, i just needed something that would keep pace. I am NOT in a Norah mood at all right now. Moving on.
If i have to tell you anything about The Mars Volta, this CD or any detail of their amazingness then well, you're not a regular reader of the shuffle. I am pretty sure that everyone who reads this is aware of The Mars Volta and how good this CD is. I've recently gotten back into it and have been reminded how good it is. It's just 72 minutes of heart-pumping, thrashing, creative and explosive genius. This is really one of the best albums of the decade in my opinion just because of the chances they took in creating an album that didn't have any semblance of a mainstream single on it. This album has absolutely zero marketability to the common music listener and wow, what a concept, but that just doesn't happen at all anymore these days.
My only objection to it, and it seems they've gotten worse at this through subsequent albums, is the pointless ambient noise that breaks up the songs...i mean, stop making noise just for the sake of making noise. I like to think that i get music, i understand why bands and artists and producers do certain things but i've never understood the 4 minute interludes of kids playing on the playground intermixed with someone breaking wineglasses filled with cooking sherry, over an atonal and out of rhythm techno beat...i just don't get it. Please stop doing this. Frances the Mute was ruined by this and Tool's 10,000 days was borderline bad because of it as well. Please stop this immediately.

3. We Both Go Down Together - The Decemberists, off of Picaresque
My verdict is still out on The Decemberists. Some of their stuff is amazing...and some of it just sounds exactly the same. I like when they step out of the mold and use different tempos and sounds but their middle of the road tunes are kind of annoying. The guys voice kinda grates on me on their unadventurous songs. When they take a chance instrumentally, then it works. I don't know if that makes sense but i guess when i'm listening to the music more than the vocals then i don't notice how his voice makes me want to stab myself in the eardrum with a rusty spike. On the songs that aren't musically compelling, well i'm heading to construction sites to find bent rebar to hit myself in the skull with. Does that make more sense?

4. Burn - Ray LaMontagne, off of Trouble
See? This is what i meant last week about the Shuffle kinda getting boring. I've written about every single one of these bands before. Maybe it's my music collection that is getting boring, i don't know.
I chose not to skip this song because i have really been listening to Ray a lot more lately. He is coming up in the mainstream pretty fast these days and i wanted to make sure i had a good understanding of him before he wins a Grammy so i can make fun of all the people that will just be hearing him for the first time. Cuz i'm shallow like that.
Anyway, i'm not really sure about his voice sometimes. It is amazing but sometimes it sounds like he's trying too heard to emote certain feelings instead of just reaching back and whaling on the song. I'm not sure. Just like Decemberists, Andrew Bird, Iron & Wine and others, sometimes it sounds amazing and sometimes it sounds fabricated. All in all, i really like Ray LaMontagne though...if you haven't had a chance to pick him up, i highly suggest it.

5. Real - Lupe Fiasco, off of Lupe Fiasco's Food and Liquor
I haven't become attached to Lupe in the same ways that i became attached to Common, Kanye, Talib and Mos, but that doesn't mean he's not good. He is. His voice is definitely different. It's high for a rapper and he sounds like a little kid. but that almost gives it an endearing quality when he's on tracks with other big rappers that have that hip-hop growl perfected. He sounds like the little kid who is just flowing circles around the big boys.
He has a lot of interesting stuff to say in his lyrics, and you gotta love that his first big single was about skateboarding. He's kind of turned into the hardline Kanye. I mean, Kanye took some chances with his lyrics and the stuff he said in public, but he's kinda stepped back from that since then because he didn't like the heat and backlash that came with it. He's too mainstream to be saying stuff like that apparently and that's really too bad. That's one of the reasons i liked him. But Lupe is saying the same stuff (often over the same exact beats since they produce together) and not backing down from it.
If Lupe keeps it up, i'll be a fan. I think his voice and his Muslim background will keep him from ever becoming too mainstream. Too bad for him, great for us.
And just to close, why don't rappers from the Chi get more respect? Everyone is all New York this, Compton that, Dirty south this...there are a ton of really, really good artists from Chicago and you never hear anyone talk about it. Common, Kanye, Lupe, these are household names and all anyone can talk about is Crunk Juice and this is why i'm hot. Seriously, come on.

Alright, that's enough for today. This has been the easiest shuffle to write in a while. Thanks goes out to my iTunes for picking out some decent shit to talk about. Maybe that little deletion over the weekend changed it's attitude for a while.

You might hear from me this week again so check back. Have a good one.

Monday Morning Shuffle

1. 21st Century - Red Hot Chili Peppers, off of Stadium Arcadium
Lyrics that don't make any sense + catchy chorus + super-funked out bass line = Every RHCP song you've ever heard.

2. Friend of The Devil - Counting Crows, off of Films About Ghosts
Somber mournful lead singer + minor key piano + high sing-along factor = Every Counting Crows song you've ever heard. (We seem to have reached a common theme here...)

3. Guillotine - Cascara
This should be fun.

I'm probably one of 8 people in the world with a recording of this song and i was really hoping that Nole would become a famous drummer so i could be interviewed on Behind The Music and sell unreleased bootlegs and B-sides of their first few songs to all the scenester kids. Alas, it wasn't meant to be and i'm left with nostalgic recordings of songs called, "This Song Can't Be About Blowing Stuff Up Because of Terrorism." But there was a time when i would walk from my house in Tempe down to the Big Fish pub and watch Nole and company tear the place up with 17 people in the audience and me dancing around like a jackass right up front. Those were the days... (I'd love to hear what you have to say about this Nole...)

4. Please Bleed - Ben Harper, off of Burn To Shine
I've never really quite had the appreciation for Ben Harper as i should have but he really is one of the best artists of our time and definitely under-appreciated. This song is one of my particular favorites because of the up tempo beat and the almost thrash metal chorus. Ben is usually a pretty subdued guy but this song rocks it out hard and has a pretty angry edge to it. "Please bleed/ so i know that you are real/ so i know that you can feel / the damage that you've done / whoa who have i become/ to myself i am numb." Yikes.

5. Tell Me A Lie - Griffin House, off of Lost and Found
I've talked about him before but if you haven't listened to Griffin House yet, get to it. He's pretty top notch and right down my alley right now. I've been craving some simpler tunes lately and a lot of the "guy and his guitar" tracks have been in heavy rotation these days. I really like the effect that they put on the guitar in this song too. Just listen to it. Trust me.

Alright, we might have to switch up the Monday Morning Shuffle. It's getting to the point where i've said pretty much all their is to say and i hope it's not as boring to read as it's getting to write. I might have to come up with some new ideas for posts. Anyone have any thoughts?

Monday Morning Shuffle

First off, did anyone go to Coachella? If so, this space is yours to write a review or a little recap of your experience. I'm always open to guest bloggers so if you're interested, write me at adammack.wright@gmail.com.

I really want to go next year but inevitably i'll look at the ticket prices and the logistics of getting there and the fact that i'd be watching some of my favorite bands with 180,000 other people and decide it's not my scene. I am sad that i missed this though.

Last week i ended up with strep throat. I could barely swallow for a week, let alone eat, so that was a ton of fun. I got some antibiotics and started feeling better by Saturday, almost a week later. It was pretty awful. Anyway, i kinda have this routine on Sunday nights to order Chinese food and catch up on all of my DVRed shows. Well last night i ordered from a new place just to try something new. Well imagine my surprise when i wake up this morning, not to my alarm clock, but to an overwhelming (and inevitably unstoppable...) desire to throw up . Yup, so i may be on my way to food poisoning now...let's hope it passes quickly. I can't catch a break lately.

Let's try and get through the shuffle before this gets any worse.

1. Thick As A Brick - Jethro Tull
A pretty good start to the morning. A few weeks ago i talked about the Dispatch song "Walk With You" and the fact that it had this low-register flute part that i loved. Well every Jethro Tull song sounds like that. I'm not sure any other band in history was incorporated the flute into their songs as often and as successfully as Jethro Tull and it gave every song such a unique sound. Their sound is unmistakable and enjoyable.

2. Make It A Part - Further Seems Forever, off of Hide Nothing
This CD turned out really really well considering this was the third reincarnation of FSF. It's much less screamy than its predecessors and actually went for much more of a rock and roll sound (power chords, big drums, powerful vocalist) than an emo sound (punk-inspired drums and guitar hooks, high vocal harmonies, screaming).
That being said, this CD runs together. You can listen to the entire thing without paying a ton of attention and you would be hard pressed to notice any huge difference from song to song. Another knock on this CD would be that it is only 9 songs long. They added 3-4 acoustic tracks on the end but it's just acoustic versions of the song on the CD. Kinda lame.

3. Black Queen - Stephen Stills
This is a live song of Stills by himself. He is introduced and comes out on stage and begins to tell a story about an old black man that worked at a store by his house where he grew up and how this guy would sit out back after work and play the blues on his guitar. And not just because he knew how to play guitar or liked that genre of music, but for the real reason that blues music exists...because the guy actually had the blues.
So Stills is playing this opening blues riff and something must have happened in the audience because you can hear a bunch of people laughing in the audience...he keeps jamming on this guitar riff but stops singing for a few bars, until the laughing dies down. When the audience is completely quiet he says, "One thing...the blues ain't....is funny..." in rhythm with the music and just keeps on jamming through the song. The rest of the audience roars in applause as he puts these people in their place. Top notch.

4. Big Balls - AC/DC
This is one of the best Bon Scott-era AC/DC songs in existence and one of the best double-entendres to every be placed in heavy rotation on FM radio in history.
"Some balls are held for charity/And some for fancy dress/But when they're held for pleasure/They're the balls that I like best/My balls are always bouncing/To the left and to the right/It's my belief that my big balls/Should be held every night."
Can you imagine them playing this on the radio today? Not if Clear Channel has anything to say about it.

5. Capital H - Motion City Soundtrack, off of I Am The Movie
I've talked about Motion City before and it's weird that they came on the shuffle today because i spent most of yesterday listening to their two albums.
The Moog keyboard really became the defining sound on this album and is probably the best on this song. And it's just a 2 minute, 52 second sprint to the finish line. This is a top-10 driving song of all time and is just top-notch fun from the drums to the guitar to the fact that the lyrics make absolutely no friggin sense at all. Good times.

Alright, that's enough for today. I'm off to lay down or throw up, i can't tell which.

Monday Morning Shuffle

On a long drive this weekend I attempted to listen to the following 3 CDs:

1. The Beta Band – 3 E.P.s
2. Radiohead – Kid A (again)
3. Thom Yorke – Eraser

I didn’t make it through a single one. I was tired on the drive and needed something that would keep my interest and engage me, as opposed to just being really clever background music. It didn’t happen.
I’m really making an effort to like this genre of music but it just doesn’t work for me. I’m about ready to quit apologizing for it.

Anyway, I did have an awesome experience with Andrew Bird and The Mysterious Production of Eggs while lying on Mission Beach Saturday afternoon. After a few beers and some hot sun, I pulled on the headphones for a little nap and I have to admit, that was one of the more spiritual moments I’ve had in a long time. It was just the perfect soundtrack to a nap in the sun. I actually stopped about 6 songs in and told the people I was with about the moment I was having. Pretty good stuff. (Again, someone send me the new CD if you have it.)

On with the shuffle:
1. Black And White Town – Doves, off of Some Cities
I feel like I’ve done this before…yup, sure have...

Starting over.

1. Walk With You - Dispatch
This song is just plain beautiful. The first few minutes have this really calming guitar part behind a flute solo in a very low register. Something about the low notes on a flute sound special somehow. I don't know how to describe it really. It just sounds, well, good.
Anyway, this is an amazing song and one of my favorites from Dispatch. The lyrics are poignant and the song just flows along beautifully. Alright, i'll stop gushing.
Dispatch gets caught up in that backward white hat, frat boy, college rock set, but they are a very talented band who, aside from being socially conscious, are just plain good to listen to. Music as it was meant to be, i think. Not too complicated, just some guitars, percussion and nice vocal harmonies. Sometimes the beauty is in the simplicity.

2. The Way You Make Me Feel - Michael Jackson
Please, like i'm going to talk about a Michael Jackson song and do it justice. All pedophilic tendencies aside, he's one of the greatest musicians/performers of our time. Madonna steals children from Africa, Michael sleeps in the same bed with them. Who is worse?

3. When You Wasn't Famous - The Streets, off the The Hardest Way To Make An Easy Living
The Streets is a one man, gay British hip-hop act. And that's every bit as weird as it sounds.
It's even weirder that this song is about how it's easy to pick up girls when you're famous, but the cat is gay...yeah, it doesn't make sense to me either.
And he doesn't so much rap as just talk over a beat. I don't know. It's bizarre but totally worth listening to, just because of the novelty of the sound.

4. Rolling With Heat - The Roots, off of Phrenology
This song features Talib Kweli so you know i love it. Having The Roots and Kweli on the same track is probably my second favorite collaboration in the history of hip-hop (Blackstar obviously being the first. )
And...that's pretty much all i have to say about that.

5. Moo-Goo Gai Pan - Grace Like Gravity
This is one of my favorite songs from the now defunct Boulder, CO-based punk band. I loved these guys when i went to school there. I saw them every time they played live and listened to them on my headphones just about every time i went snowboarding (so about 120 times). One night they covered One Song, Glory from the musical Rent and i almost went apeshit (yes, i like musical theater, you have a problem with that?)
Anyway, the first time i went to see them was just to hang out with some people from the snowboard team and they immediately impressed me. Seeing a band live before you hear anything by them is a really weird experience and one that i have a hard time being present for. I just get so distracted by everything else going on around me that i have a hard time getting into the music and really deciding if i like it or not. But these guys just had some really catchy hooks and immediately drew me in.
They used to play a lot of shows at this bar/restaurant called K's China, which was a Chinese restaurant on The Hill (notoriously responsible for food poisoning and the scoots...) and it turned into a bar at night. It was always packed and had a roof area that would have resulted in the deaths of hundreds of people if there was ever a fire or emergency up there. I mean, there was only one small stairway down and at least 300 people on the roof. I can't figure out why it was never shut down. My only time on the roof, i found myself looking at the neighboring buildings and figuring out my escape plan if something crazy happened. Not good. Well anyway, they named all the songs on this CD after dishes at K's China. Kinda weird to say that your favorite song is Lo Mein, but hey.

Alright, i'll do better next time.

Monday Morning Shuffle

First off, congratulations to long-time friend Donny Ducote and his band, My Sister in 1994, for their successful CD release party at the Modified last night. Great show and i'm proud of you guys. (One side note, why is it always so damn hot in the Modified??? Open a door or something for god's sake. I can't remember being there a single time and not sweating profusely. Not good.)

On with the Shuffle:
1. Bones - The Killers, off of Sam's Town
Last week i made a top 5 list of music so far in 2007. I tried to post it and Blogger decided to take a dump on it and delete it. So it doesn't exist anymore. I'm going to try and redo it sometime this week, we'll see. Anyway, my point in telling you that is that Sam's Town was #4 on my Top 5 list of pleasant surprises. The Killer's were ripe for a Kanye West Award (awarded to boring, ego driven and otherwise god-awful Sophomore albums...) but they did pretty well i think. There are some weird moments but overall i like the album. And i like what they did on this song as well. I like the choir sounding parts. On the right sound system these can actually sound pretty overwhelming and awesome.

2. Chick Magnet - MXPX
Wow, flashback to 11th grade. I saw MXPX in Salt Lake City my junior year on the Invasion Ski/Snowboard trip. It was in this very cool theater and we were moshing it up and dancing around. This song came on and we were all dancing around in the big circle and when the chorus kicked in we all started moshing. Then, I got kicked in the nuts. Hard.
I spent the rest of the evening curled up on the brick floor in the corner trying to recover. I actually seem to remember throwing up because of it. It was one of the all time hardest nut shots ever and that's what i remember every time i hear this song. Awesome. Let's move on.

3. Diamond from Sierra Leone - Kanye West, off of Late Registration
How great is the shuffle that i just talked shit about this album and i get a song from it just one song later. Oh well.
I've already discussed Kanye probably far more than i should in this space so i won't dig too deep into this song. I actually like it. Relative to the CD this one isn't bad. And i'm happy that Kanye actually discussed a subject matter that is difficult and brought some awareness to an otherwise bling-obsessed culture.
There is more than a hint of hypocrisy in this track but that shouldn't really come as a surprise to anyone. And Kanye completely loses me on the "Foreva eva?" parts. I appreciate the reference to Outkast but it's just stupid, messes with the flow of the song and actually takes some of the seriousness out of the track. Oh well. The rumor is that a new Kanye CD will be out this year. Here's hoping he redeems himself.

4. Out From Under - Incubus, off of Make Yourself
The first line of this song is, "To resist is to piss in the wind, anyone who does will end up smelling." That's a pretty great friggin metaphor.
And speaking of hypocrisy, how great is it that Incubus writes this song about being individual and not giving in to the masses and not conforming and then they become TRL poster children and absolutely lay a goose egg on every CD since Morning View? Way to go guys.

5. Everything's Not Lost - Coldplay, off of Parachutes
Weird Shuffle today. I mean, i know it's supposed to be random but usually there is a bit more continuity than this.
Anyway, as far as Coldplay goes, this is one of my favorite songs. I really, really like the guitar in the chorus. It just catches me the right way. This entire CD was pretty good (for Coldplay) and i guess that's why this is the album that made them famous. Makes sense right?
That being said, I completely lost respect for them in every way after watching their Storytellers the other night. I mean, the dude talks about how when he wrote Yellow that the chorus was missing something and he couldn't think of what to put there and he looked around the room and saw a YellowPages and said, "They were all yellow." and it fit. So really, there's no meaning in that song at all...he just looks around the room and says words and they turn into multi-platinum albums... I cringe to think that more of my favorite artists write like this and even worse to think that the songs that mean the most to me were just bullshitted by a guy looking around the room and trying to fill holes in the song. I don't know how i'd handle that.
Also, Chris Martin is inspired by porn. Can't wait till Apple grows up and hears that...

Alright, more later this week. Probably.