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

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: The Long Band Name edition

There's a lot to take care of this morning before we actually get to the shuffle.

First thing, after my Kanye Sucks post last week, i found this video today with Common's new single featuring, of course, Kanye:

I really like it when these two work together (The Food off of Common's Be album was the shit.) and this song is really no different. I definitely feel it and i can't wait for Common's new CD, even if Kanye is going to manhandle and take over every song he's on. Common balances him out pretty well i'd say. Let me know what you think in the comments.

Also, i found a record store in Flagstaff this weekend that was going out of business and had a bunch of music on sale for 20%-25% off and of course i went nuts. I always feel justified in buying a ton of music at once because usually i'm just stealing it and i feel like i'm all square with the recording industry by buying 5 CDs a year. So here's what i picked up and i'm really excited to load them all onto the iPod and dive in.
The Beta Band - The Three E.P.S (and if you don't recognize the significance of me buying this CD in a local indie record store and talking about it on this blog then you need to go rent High Fidelity right now and watch it until you get it.)
Johnny Cash - Super Hits (This isn't an official Cash album, just one of those random compilations. It had some good songs on it and some that i haven't heard before so i picked it up.)
Johnny Cash - American V (Nole recommended this CD a long time ago and since i stole American IV i thought it was the least i could do for Johnny's estate.)
Death Cab for Cutie - We Have The Facts and We're Voting Yes (I'm a big fan of Plans, but my overall Death Cab knowledge and context is lacking, so i picked it up.)
Thrice - Vheissu (I know, i'm really late on this one but the Dustin Kensrue solo CD has me digging back into Thrice a bit. I already listened to it on the way home from Flag, and i like it so far.) And here is Dustin's performance on Letterman the other night, just for fun:

Talib Kweli - Quality (On VINYL bitches. Yeah, beat that. I already have this CD but the chance to have it on wax for 25% off was just too good to pass up. And yes, having this album makes me cooler than you. Now all i need is a record player and i'll be good to go.)
Lauryn Hill - The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill (Yes, i missed this by about 7 years but so what? I've recently gotten back into the Fugees -- and all of their spin offs -- and knew that i really needed to give this CD a lot of attention. Why hasn't she done anything else recently? Come on Lauryn, come back, we need you.)

Let me know if you want me to send you any of these albums for your own collection. I'm hoping to start posting a weekly wish list for music and hopefully we can all start sharing and not buying as much (To kick the wish list off, i heard the new Andrew Bird album leaked last week. Someone get their hands on it and send it to me eh?)

Also, the new Fall Out Boy is streaming on Myspace, if anyone is interested.

On with the shuffle:
1. Plush (acoustic) - Stone Temple Pilots
Between stints in rehab and time spent with former members of G&R, Scott Weiland made some damn good music. This is one of my favorite songs of the grunge 90s, right next to Pearl Jam - Jeremy. It has a really catchy chorus and i just help but sing along. The acoustic version here is really nice. Just one guitar and Scott, whose voice sounds better here than it did on the actual album version.

2. Suzie Q - Credence Clearwater Revival
Ahhhhh the Credence. They just remind me of Big Lebowski no matter what and there's nothing wrong with that. This song has a kind of Jeremiah Was A Bullfrog feel to it for me. It's like, i like it once i'm listening to it, but if i don't get passed the first couple seconds then i'm just never going to listen to it. It has a cool sound to it, and it's a fun song when in the presence of people named Suzie, but that's about it. Upon closer inspection, i really do like the beat and the guitar in this song. I'm actually surprised that no rapper has sampled the drums yet. It would be a pretty mellow track. This is why i need to become a DJ.

3. Mess - Ben Folds Five, off of The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner
This was my first Ben Folds song. My good friend Courtney gave me this CD freshman year of college because she said it reminded her of me. Which is interesting seeing as though this is easily Ben Folds' most depressed CD. I guess i was a little more sad and Emo at that point of life, which is too bad, but hey, i'm still here and it seems that i made it through OK.
This song really did catch my ear because at the time, i was a complete Mess. It fit, and the sound and feel of the song is one of those that just affects your heart when you hear it. I think my most poignant memory of this song is being really damn drunk on a vacation back in Phoenix and Erika had to drive me home in my own car (how she got home, i can't remember) and i just remember being effected by this song and yeah. Deep semi-painful memories there. Let's just move on.

4. On My Own - Black Eyed Peas, off of Bridging the Gaps
Imagine a time before London Bridges, before My Humps, before that cracked out little whore Fergie forsook her Kids Incorporated upbringing and began teaching completely inappropriate lyrics to every kid in America between 8 and 17. Can you picture that time? Yes it existed, and once upon that time a hip-hop group called the Black-Eyed Peas made an album so socially conscious and thought-provoking that their label wouldn't even release it. My God, how they've fallen.
Bridging the Gaps is a bad-ass album from a group that used to tour with Ozomatli and J5. This song includes vocals from Les Nubians and Mos Def. Do you think Mos would be caught dead on a Black-eyed Peas album now? Let's hope not.
It really makes me sad what's become of this band. They used to be awesome, now, well...we know what they are now.

5. Stadium Arcadium - Red Hot Chili Peppers, off of Stadium Arcadium
This song reminds me so much of Californication that it's almost disheartening. It's almost as if they have a formula for writing title tracks or something. It starts with some mournful, yet catchy, guitar riff, in comes the drums, then Keidis' voice with some profound and obscure lyric. They really are quite similar and i just noticed that today for the first time.
Well i won't let one little realization ruin this song for me. It's no secret that i really like this album and the title track here really does fit the whole ebb and flow of the entire 2-disk set. Another thing i really find myself enjoying about this song is the harmonies in the chorus. Flea's voice actually adds a ton of texture to this song (and on Make You Feel Better, another good song on the album) and it really sounds like the whole band is singing and believing in what the song and the band is about. I like it. A lot. Now, a little variety would be good for next time.

More this week. Promise this time. I've been saving up some good topics for a while. Keep an eye out.

(I didn't realize this until now but 4 of 5 bands in the shuffle today have 3-word names, and the 5th band has a 4-word name. Weird. We know not the insanity of the shuffle button.)