Song of the Day

**3/30/10

She & Him - In the Sun

----------I'm ready for April. I wore a vintage dress that has the color scheme of Easter eggs and poufy sleeves that Napoleon Dynamite's date would give me dirty looks over. Spring is here as far as I'm concerned, therefore I listen to music that sounds like it came from the same era as my wardrobe. She & Him have flutey, telecaster toned guitar and Beach Boy "ooh aahs" that tuck sweetly into the arm of Johnny's leather jacket in his 1953 Thunderbird. Get "In the Sun" from Volume Two.

http://myspace.com/sheandhim/

Song of the Day

**3/29/10

I Can Make A Mess Like Nobody's Business - Old Man You're No Good at Talking Anymore

---------------Readers, it's been a Monday of all Mondays. After 48 hours of carrying my life on my back through the mountains, I woke up late for my 8 a.m. and made it just in time to do some Baroque-period waltzing (not kidding) with every beaten muscle in my body swearing in protest.

And then someone stole $40 right from under my nose. So to whatever broke college kid who stole from another broke college kid: Firetruck, Cee U Next Tuesday.

Sorry about that. To celebrate this Monday, I have a brooding, low-tempo mood-intentifying number from I Can Make a Mess Like Nobody's Business new album, The World We Know.



One way you know an album is good is if your buddy who's putting in mad studio time working on his album and saving every penny he can for production says "It was worth the $20 I paid for it." Not many releases are worth their weight in record company gold nowadays, but The World We Know may be that exception.



Have a good one - hope mine improves!



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLs0a3ZBsWY

A Trompin' We Will Go...

Sadly, I'm not this in-tents...get it? Camping joke!

This weekend I'll be abandoning electricity, warmth and real sustenance in favor of some campfires, thermal blankets and Ramen. I'm backpacking through Wilson Creek, and for those who don't know, it's in Pigsah National Forest at the foot of Grandfather Mountain in North Carolina.

I was assigned the all-too-impossible task of deciding what trails to take, sans GPS and everything. All I have is a compass and a plea with the mighty mountain gods that I don't get swallowed whole by a bear or wake up downriver on a raft of leaves and deerhide...

...it won't be that bad, I know! But while I'm immersed in wilderness, listen to some songs you'd want to hear at a campfire. Here are a couple of my favorites. Kumbayah, city-slickers.

1. Jack Johnson - Constellations

2. Whitley - Under the Stars

3. Eddie Vedder - Guarenteed

4. Daniel Martin Moore - That'll Be the Plan

5. Johnny Cash - I Walk the Line

6. James Taylor - anything, but particularly, Sweet Baby James

7. Cory Brannan - Tall Green Grass

Badasses at Badfish

Last night I worked at a Badfish show. For those who are unaware, Badfish is a Sublime tribute band who have garnered remarkable success for just doing Sublime covers. Honestly...even I can play "Santeria" and "What I've Got" on guitar (hint: if you're just starting to learn because mom let you quit piano lessons, "What I've Got" is cake to learn).

If Badfish were drag queens, I would never know they were dudes. They embody the Dalmation-and-drug-loving party starting band like they're related to them. Bah-leeeve me, watch some Sublime concert clips, then hit up a Sublime show - it's got the same swagger.

Yes, the photo is granier than Bud Light Wheat and it's from the corner, but I was standing guard at the backstage entrance (sounds a lot more awesome than it really was, trust me).

Shows are more fun the more people you have looking completely stupid and acting out of control. The slight pain in the ass that comes from dealing with them then is worth the giggles and finger pointing you have with your co-workers later.

A few friends of mine talked groupies into going towards the merch table and out of our hair. A word: the band usually comes out to say hello. They don't always want you hanging around their dressing room. Let 'em breathe!

My grand moment of the evening came post-encore of "Caress Me Down," "What I've Got," and "Date Rape." Two Chaco and tie-dye wearing hippy chicks who thrashed skankily around the stage at the encore tried to sneak through a back door to the dressing rooms. They said they were looking for a bathroom...yeah.

I kicked those two chicks out and watched them sulk away from giving out free handjobs and getting bragging rights, which I guess is pretty neat-o, in my case.

The show was a lot of fun, in the end. Normally I wouldn't say this, but don't let the fact that Badfish a tribute band get in the way of a good time. Their shows aren't usually a budget-buster, either.

Toodle-loo!

Song of the Day

**3/22/10

The Early November - Sesame, Smeshame

-----------------I am a villager in a magical land that has near-full-scale blizzards in the middle of March. Imagine, if you will, another village two hours away that enjoyed sunny skies and 70 degrees today. Fair? This pissed off villager thinks not - she wants to trek around in some jorts and tees, not a parka.

And since I'm gonna whine I may as well re-visit myself at the tender age of 13, when I had no idea what a hair straightener was and was so flat you could land a 747 on my front without a bump of turbulence.

Drive-Thru records hit the mark with the Early November. They are among the bands that got our confused teen selves through those tough times and angry times. Sad, sad day when The Early November called it quits. In tribute, write an angry LiveJournal post about your ex and listen to "Sesame, Smeshame" from The Room's Too Cold.

Spoon and Deerhunter - Tabernacle, Atlanta GA

As you may have guessed, I wandered down to the land of Peaches and heavy-thudding rap music this weekend to see Spoon and Deerhunter at the Tabernacle.
Well, my trusty but not so trusty Canon pooped out of batteries so I have no photography to share with you. But believe me, the venue is a hipster version of Phantom of the Opera. It's an old theatre with balcony seating, crafted fixtures, a gigantic and ornate chandelier and large windows. But instead of stuffy drapes and guilded fixtures you have whimsical star paintings and bright crayon colors. PBR instead of champagne, Levi skinny jeans in place of petticoats, you get the jist.
Spoon worked it in a non-sweat driven set, and though I'm not entirely familiar with their work, I can say it was a good show. It's already toasty in Atlanta, and it's only March! The only thing the Tabernacle needs to be a holy concert heaven is some A/C. That's all.

Song of the Day

**3/16/10

Gorillaz - On Melancholy Hill

--------------Just bought Plastic Beach today, and spent forever looking at the cover art and the insert. J.C. Hewlett & Zombie Flesh Eaters = pirate pill-popping champagne-sipping dagger-toting excellence.

While in London, ads for Plastic Beach followed me on double-decker buses, stared me in the face in the Underground and played from at least five stores I visited. No doubt because of Virgin Records, who's owner is English and, I don't know, maybe perhaps it has something to do with the gross praise it received.

The album is a bit too dub-steppy for my taste, though it's a taste I'm willing to grow on as the play count increases on my ipod. Flavor aside, the album is somewhat scattered: songs range from scowling, heavy beat synth hypnotizers to alarmingly quicker, more aggressive hip hop tracks.

The proclaimed single "Stylo" is nothing memorable; you're better off listening to the two tracks beforehand, the pacifist hip-hop "White Flag" and "Rhinestone Eyes."

The winner on Plastic Beach is "On Melancholy Hill," which sounds like the missing track from Sixteen Candles. A more popular Molly Ringwald with a thing for neon and nylon would surely get ready for the prom listening to this in the same mix as Duran Duran and R.E.M. You'll get a cheesy, driving up to the house for the first-date feel when you hear it.

I encourage you to get a deep sea exploration of this album and see for yourself what you think of Plastic Beach.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-QBwtHzdSFM

Where'd I Go?!

I was across the pond!

Though, this is quite the travesty - I've been depriving you dear readers of new and exciting looks into the wonderous world of music. That's not fair to you, and I extend my deepest apologies from the tips of my toes to you all.


Expect an equally apologetic number of posts coming up this week and in the month in general - loads of fancy schmancy exclusives...maybe even some photos from a killer concert or two.

Cheers!

Song of the Day

**3/3/10

Jump, Little Children - Mexico

---------If you're like me and patience comes to you as easy as five million dollars and a new car, then you understand my intense and passionate need to blow the popsicle stand I'm in as soon as all possible.

Maybe I'll say hola to mexico like today's Jump, Little Children Awh Isn't That The Most Precious Song From 8th Grade. If you listened to Between the Dim and the Dark back in 2004, you know this song made you wish to baby jesus you could get into driver's ed to get that liscense and whisk your mid-pubescent lady away...to Stonecrest or Marble Slab...but you had to be home by 9:30. And that's an extension.

But yeah. This song should bring back some sort of "oh why didn't I ask her to dance with me" regret or smirk at your flame of old. Have fun walking down memory lane!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jo-Yw-7C95E

Song of the Day

**3/1/10

A Sunny Day in Glasgow - Lights/Passionate Introverts (Dinosaurs)

------------------Something is echoing through my brain all asmushed with music -it's this need for button-pushing, synth-slathered, ambience driven material. A Sunny Day in Glasgow has the Nitetime Rainbows EP available on pre-order (only digital and vinyl - how renaissance), but to really get a feel for the group, one must experience their 2008 LP Ashes Grammar. That's where you can find yourself transfixed by "Lights/Passionate Introverts (Dinosaurs)."

Though the name sounds like an utterly random game of Mad Libs, the song is utterly and elegantly betwitching. If Passion Pit and The Postal Service got their digital recordings lost in translation with Band of Horses, A Sunny Day in Glasgow were the ones who snatched it out of their inbox.

Also hear: "Failure"

http://myspace.com/sunnydayinglasgow/