Seven Songs For the Weekend

So...I'm pretty confident that this weekend is going to be a good one. And why in the name of all that is poppin' lockin' and droppin' would I listen to something low key and plain jane? *Scoff* ne'er!
Believe me, I had a bit of a laugh compiling this list, especially watching the risque, avant garde, and macabre "Paparazzi" by my girl Lady Gags. If you already have something else on your turntables (I know, it's probably just an ipod, but run with it) for this evening, try out one or two of these suckers anyways. You either won't regret it or you won't remember it *wink, wink*

1. Swizz Beatz - No Money in the Bank

2. Timbaland - Bounce (Remix)

3. House of Pain - Jump Around

4. Lady Gaga - Paparazzi

5. Ray J - Sexy Can I

6. R. Kelly feat. Jay-Z - Fiesta

7. M.I.A. - Pull Up the People

Song of the Day

**10/8/09

Placebo - Because I Want You

---------------------Spent the day with a rent-a-puppy named Kujo in honor of the humane society here at school, and I want him so badly! No one can think of a puppy without smiling or feeling a warm spot in their heart. Placebo's "Because I Want You" may not be written about a precocious pooch, but there's definitely a fear of being alone and the need for a company that could never be replaced. Think of Placebo as a modern-day Smiths with a little more alternative punk blended into rich, often dark lyrics. Whether it's man's best friend, man's best drink, or man's soul mate, "Because I Want You" from Placebo's Meds is a perfect midnight companion.

This Is Forgery!

...Nay, it's music swapping! I'm uploading a cornucopia of albums from my dear and Placebo-obsessed friend, Shari. Her CD case is sitting in my lap and I wish iTunes would upload the music faster, because I'm anxious to open my ears to the fresh airs of new tunes. So what's the first album I have listened to from this collection? Get ready, nostalgics of drama pop punk...Dashboard Confessional's Swiss Army Romance. It was at the forefront of the case, so I had to take a listen, and I dig...I dig very much.

Here's a list of what my already morbidly obese library will be consuming tonight...Hope it doesn't need a stomach stapling!

Dashboard Confessional - Swiss Army Romance

Placebo - Once More With Feeling

Placebo - Meds

Placebo - Without You I'm Nothing

The Smiths - The Queen is Dead

Blink -182 - Take Off Your Pants and Jacket

The Brunnettes - Holding Hands, Feeling Ducks

AFI - DecemberUnderground

Weezer - Maladroit

Streetlight Manifesto - Somewhere in Between

The Stitch Up - Attitude Adjuster

Dazed and Confused Soundtrack

Fall Out Boy - Carry This To Your Grave

Flogging Molly - Swagger

Dropkick Murphys - The Warriors Code

Atreyu - Lead Sails Paper Anchor

Jake Troth

Dispatch - Bang Bang

Song of the Day

**10/6/09
Mimicking Birds - The Loop
---------------Whew! Ok, I've gotten all of the icky feelings out of my system and I'm ready to redirect my attention to the joys of music rather than become A.D.D. with trivial problems.
Mimicking Birds...I can't recall where or when I heard about this band, but it's scribbled on a Post-it note on my laptop among other acts to check out. Couldn't help but give the nod to this band because of their swooning instrumentals and quirky, dancing ambience. It's almost as if The Postal Service and Nick Drake had a baby who grew up to be Mimicking Birds.
"The Loop" is not as restless as (the highly recommended) "A Perfunctory Clockwork Yawn" and may not hum like "Rivers, Veins, and Roots," but what it does contain is an arresting guitar melody that knocks your energy out into a blissfully calm stupor.

http://www.myspace.com/natelacy

Band Aids

Just to start off, I'm not one that likes to incorporate personal baggage with them on their musical airplane. But hey - no one's got it all together, and that's as normal as a delicate setting on a washing machine. That's a face of music that not everyone wants to see, but you're grateful it's around whenever things get you down.

Whenever I'm in a funk, I gravitate towards hip hop and rap. It's a genre I can appreciate because what constitutes as an obstacle to me is eons away from the real problems these artists have seen. It is a humbling respect for true struggle that puts my problems in perspective. So here's a random compilation of Band Aids, and if you just take a minute and let it breathe (like K'naan), you create medication out of your own tribulations.

1. Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five - The Message

2. Kanye West - Never Let Me Down

3. Gang Starr - Moment of Truth

4. K'naan - Take a Minute

5. Tupac - Keep Ya Head Up

6. TLC - Waterfalls

7. Lupe Fiasco - Hip Hop Has Saved My Life

Song of the Day

**10/5/09

Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band - Roosevelt Room

-------------------I was reclining in my rollaway chair in my Rock Lyrics class listening to my peer's lyrics projects and scribbling notes on index cards criticizing each presentation. My ears were sick and tired after hearing the third Dave Matthews Band song, but then someone saved me with some killer Omaha Oberst side-project magic. Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band supposedly said goodbye at the end of August, but honestly, I would have loved to hear more of this band's stuff. I dig Oberst when he's pensive and moody, but my ears love getting drunk off of a big, massive draft of ADD guitars, vagabond timbre, and a little political spite to chase it down. Get "Roosevelt Hotel" from Outer South.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dn7UQRE7cF4

Song of the Day

**10/4/09

Maylene and the Sons of Disaster - Listen Close

-------------Had a beautiful surprise from a few wonderful friends this weekend, and I found myself constantly preoccupied and honestly, unwilling to plop myself down for longer than three seconds.

It's somewhat peculiar and cliche to mention, but you never truly understand an experience until you, well, experience it. Being kept together by highways and telephone lines may seem crazy and unusual, but songs like "Listen Close" by the Alabama Maylene and the Sons of Disaster erase any lines drawn over a perfect canvas. Maylene and Sons features former Underoath frontman Dallas Taylor singing longingly for a far-away muse, and the lyrics (which I have so conveniently posted for your sing-along pleasure) dig deep into a missed love, but also of scarier doubts (i.e. the final lyric of the final verse " I've been gone so long I'm afraid I might be losin' you." Get "Listen Close" from Maylene and the Sons of Disaster III.

=Verse 1=

It's been awhile and a million miles

Since I've seen the sun shine on your face

A long time coming but now I'm runnin' back home

Southern pines and neon signs and every backroad between the two

Out of sight don't mean out of mind to me
=Chorus=

Carry on this way

I'm singin' to you from somewhere tonight am I getting through?(Is it getting through?)

I choke on every word and it never comes out right

This would be so much easier standing next to you
=Verse 2=

I didn't know what I was lookin' for

But I found it when I took your hand

The cheshire smile still cuts me down to the bone

Preacher says it's for rich or poorWe see a lot of the latter of two

I've been gone so long I'm afraid I might be losin' you
=Chorus=

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmRYM0dQ9_M

The Blueprint 3

So I know I'm a little behind on this one, but I bought (with that green papery stuff called cash) The Blueprint 3 Jay-Z's latest encore released officially-ish on September 11th.

I had a leaked copy of the album, but the inner music geek inside of me wanted the plastic, the celophane wrapper, and the album artwork. To get these treasures of tracks, I shelled out a phenomenal $17 for a copy (you're welcome, Jigga Man and Atlantic). This small fortune is now sitting amongst my very haphazard collection of cassette tapes, vinyl, and cds that are temporarily on my desk until I can move them to my collection.

Many of the tracks are produced by Timbaland and Kanye West, and a line of artists longer than Saturday morning at the DMV appear on collaborative tracks. Rihanna's chorus-belting role and Alicia Key's sultry cry take hold of "Run This Town" and "Empire State of Mind," respectively. Pharell, Kanye, Drake, and Kid Cudi take hold of the B-Sides.

I still haven't formed a definite yay or nay to this one. It may take me a few more listens, for while I may acquire leaked tracks early on, I sometimes forget that I have them and the necessity to revisit material rears its head.

What do you guys think? Is Jay-Z's latest the greatest, or can you find way more than 99 problems with The Blueprint 3?

Song of the Day

**10/2/09

State Radio - Bohemian Grove

---------------A reggae group from Boston may seem unusual at first, like a Jamaican Bobsled team or an ice cream truck creeping through cul de sacs in December. But State Radio have delivered since 2006, when Dispatch frontman Chad Urmston, Chuck Fay, and Mike Najarian put out their first album, Us Against the Crown. They have an armload of tour dates this winter to promote their latest release, Let It Go. State Radio is part rascally Boston-punk and part reggae, making Let It Go an interesting yet enjoyable album for all moods. "Bohemian Grove" takes to the soapbox for social minorities through tinkering drums and simple, earnest lyrics.

http://www.myspace.com/stateradio

Silversun Pickups

Some terrible scene girl pictures with my point n' shoot Canon Powershot! These are the best of the worst from a music fan who could never call herself a photographer, even if she had a Nikon D90 weighing down her neck.

Basist Nikki Monninger sings with an ethereal, demure disposition, but she wails on the bass like nobody's business. Brian Aubert and drummer Christopher Guanlao delivered an impassioned, aggressive performance that would knock the Wayfarers off any indie listener.

The set was everything I expected and more. Where I anticipated a clean performance onstage, I didn't think it would be a near synonym of their mastered recordings. Even the chaos of synth breakdowns and mixing from Joe Lester and Tony Hoffer were organized.

Here's the set list, so kindly passed on to me by Nikki Monninger:

Growing Old is Getting Old

Well Thought Out Twinkles

Sort Of

There's No Secrets This Year

The Royal We

Little Lover's So Polite

It's Nice to Know You Work Alone

Future Foe Scenarios

Kissing Families

Catch and Release

Panic Switch

Lazy Eye