Yesterday I had the day off and decided to drive my wife to school. This is usually an hour round trip, and I get a great chance to listen to music. I listened to Hunky Dory and The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars. So many fantastic songs on each album, but I think my favorite is "Five Years." I love these lyrics:
I think I saw you in an ice-cream parlour, drinking milk shakes cold and long
Smiling and waving and looking so fine, dont think
You knew you were in this song
And it was cold and it rained so I felt like an actor
And I thought of ma and I wanted to get back there
Your face, your race, the way that you talk
I kiss you, youre beautiful, I want you to walk
I probably looked like an idiot singing along to this song three times in the car yesterday, but who cares.
Tonight we are going to see the Textbook Committee at Canal Street. We saw them over the summer on the patio at Wings, and, though I was confused as to why a lot of people were calling me shitty tigerbomb, it was still a fantastic show. I was sold on them when they opened with a pretty rocking "Bull Spears." Can't wait to see them put on the three hour show tonight. As usual, I'll be the drunk guy singing along.
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Sunday, December 14, 2008
A Nice Sunday
Today's listening:
Neil Young-S/T
Neil Young-Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere
John Coltrane-A Love Supreme
Miles Davis-Birth Of the Cool
Wake Up Mordecai-North To the Nth Degree
The Kinks-Kink Kontroversy
Nick Drake-Pink Moon
Destroyer-Destroyer's Rubies
Then my wife and I slow danced to a bunch of Elton John songs. It was a pretty nice day to be honest.
Neil Young-S/T
Neil Young-Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere
John Coltrane-A Love Supreme
Miles Davis-Birth Of the Cool
Wake Up Mordecai-North To the Nth Degree
The Kinks-Kink Kontroversy
Nick Drake-Pink Moon
Destroyer-Destroyer's Rubies
Then my wife and I slow danced to a bunch of Elton John songs. It was a pretty nice day to be honest.
Sunday, November 30, 2008
The Ipod is loaded
I am leaving tomorrow for a week long trip to the Virgin Islands to sit on the beach and listen to a bunch of albums. I am actually working on a couple of different mixes of Simon and Garfunkel, The Kinks, Elton John, and The Doors. Before I leave, though, I was going through iTunes and looking at albums that I could download. I settled on the Bee Gees Odessa (big surprise), but I came across something that really made me laugh.
If you go to the Guided by Voices section of iTunes and find the fantastic album Alien Lanes, you can click on at least two songs and the sample will play you the entire song. This amuses me to no end.
For the record, Alien Lanes is my favorite album of all time. I cannot even begin to explain what the album did for me and what it still means to me to this day.
If you go to the Guided by Voices section of iTunes and find the fantastic album Alien Lanes, you can click on at least two songs and the sample will play you the entire song. This amuses me to no end.
For the record, Alien Lanes is my favorite album of all time. I cannot even begin to explain what the album did for me and what it still means to me to this day.
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters
Some updates of what I've actually been doing for a month:
I really liked the Stevie Wonder song "Signed, Sealed, Delivered I'm Yours" before. After hearing it last Tuesday, I now love it. Words cannot explain how ecstatic I was at the moment I heard it. The song has new meaning to me, and I will probably smile every time I hear it for the rest of my life.
I have been working on a bunch of new mixes the past month, and have completed two pretty cool ones. The first is a great mix by the Pixies. I've been meaning to do that for awhile, and finally put one together last week. It's a good mix, and it reminded me how great the song "No. 13 Baby" is. I am ready to add it to the Purple Notebook, but I have yet to come up with a name. This shouldn't be too hard considering the wealth of imagery in their songs.
The second mix is in the Purple Notebook, but has yet to be named. It's what I like to call a concept mix. It is a 60 minute mix to an imaginary Wes Anderson movie. One of my favorite things about his movies is the soundtracks full of greats songs and cool instrumentals from Mark Mothersbaugh. For many years I have heard songs and thought that they would fit perfectly in a Wes Anderson film. I picked a bunch of them out, added some of my favorite instrumental tracks from my collection (mostly Brian Eno songs and Portastatic film scores), and threw in a great early Rolling Stones song. The result is pretty cool. You can imagine the movie in your head. The only problem thus far has been coming up with a name, so if you have any suggestions, please feel free to share them.
Finally, the other night my friend was in town and he picked me up to go out to the bar. When I got in the car, I told him I had a song to play for him and then proceeded to play "Rocket Man." Sadly, this isn't the only "Rocket Man" story I have from the last couple of weeks, but it does reveal my main recent listening obsession. Elton John. So, if you hear Madman Across the Water or Tumbleweed Connection blasting in the distance, you know who the guilty party is.
I really liked the Stevie Wonder song "Signed, Sealed, Delivered I'm Yours" before. After hearing it last Tuesday, I now love it. Words cannot explain how ecstatic I was at the moment I heard it. The song has new meaning to me, and I will probably smile every time I hear it for the rest of my life.
I have been working on a bunch of new mixes the past month, and have completed two pretty cool ones. The first is a great mix by the Pixies. I've been meaning to do that for awhile, and finally put one together last week. It's a good mix, and it reminded me how great the song "No. 13 Baby" is. I am ready to add it to the Purple Notebook, but I have yet to come up with a name. This shouldn't be too hard considering the wealth of imagery in their songs.
The second mix is in the Purple Notebook, but has yet to be named. It's what I like to call a concept mix. It is a 60 minute mix to an imaginary Wes Anderson movie. One of my favorite things about his movies is the soundtracks full of greats songs and cool instrumentals from Mark Mothersbaugh. For many years I have heard songs and thought that they would fit perfectly in a Wes Anderson film. I picked a bunch of them out, added some of my favorite instrumental tracks from my collection (mostly Brian Eno songs and Portastatic film scores), and threw in a great early Rolling Stones song. The result is pretty cool. You can imagine the movie in your head. The only problem thus far has been coming up with a name, so if you have any suggestions, please feel free to share them.
Finally, the other night my friend was in town and he picked me up to go out to the bar. When I got in the car, I told him I had a song to play for him and then proceeded to play "Rocket Man." Sadly, this isn't the only "Rocket Man" story I have from the last couple of weeks, but it does reveal my main recent listening obsession. Elton John. So, if you hear Madman Across the Water or Tumbleweed Connection blasting in the distance, you know who the guilty party is.
Friday, October 10, 2008
Rocktober
In the span of five days last week, I saw seven different bands, and somehow still have my hearing. Seeing this many concerts in such a short time is pretty foreign to me these days. I used to go to concerts all the time, but, as will happen as you get old, I go to less and less every year. This past week has been fun, but I can tell you that I am really tired.
Last Saturday night, my wife and I went to the Dayton Music Festival to catch Bob Pollard's new band, the Boston Spaceships. Opening the show were two really cool bands Hospital Garden and The Sailing. Hospital Garden was pretty good, and I was especially impressed with The Sailing. Their energetic sets perfectly set the stage for the Spaceships to come out and blow the crowd away.
Now, I've seen GbV/Bob solo about 35 times, and at this show I only saw ONE SONG that I have ever seen live before. They ended the night with the stalwart classic "Game of Pricks," and for a solid two hours before that they played a perfect mixture of new material and obscure classics. This would be like going to see Springsteen and him playing his next two albums, a bunch of songs from the Tracks boxset, and then finishing with "Born to Run." To translate: This was a real treat for a die hard fan like me.
It helps that Bob has a fantastic band along for the ride. Chris Slusarenko and Tommy Keene were monsters of the guitars, new comer John Moen pounded the material along with precision, and the always great Jason Narducy brought his usual great bass playing and wonderful backing vocals. And Bob, well, Bob was in great voice, and, when you play songs like "Dorothy's a Planet" and "Headache Revolution," well, you're going to give the crowd what they want. It was a great show, and I hope Bob keeps this band around for a few more tours.
On Sunday I went to Gem City Records and caught two sets as part of their Sunday instore series. A band that has been getting a lot of spins around our household lately, Wake Up Mordecai, was one of the two bands. They put on another good set, playing a few new songs and a couple off their first EP North to the Nth Degree, including my personnel favorite "Now We're Communicating." I am told that "Girls Don't Ride In Viking Ships" was recently played on WOXY, which is pretty cool. I highly recommend these guys if you haven't checked them out.
After a couple of days healing from our busy weekend, we headed to Cowtown (or the more recent nickname, C-Bus) for a night with Death Cab for Cutie. My wife and I attended the show with my long partner in rock crimes, JB. We arrived as openers Tegan and Sarah took the stage. Though I haven't spent much time with their music, I thought they were a pretty decent opening act for the evening. A good portion of the crowd treated them like royality as they played, which might account for the crowd of statues during Death Cab's set.
We got up close in the packed crowd for Death Cab, and the band did not disappoint. They played a blazing set that reminded me at times of Pearl Jam. The three of us had a great time as the band knocked out song after song, but the rest of the crowd wasn't quite on the same page. It seems that between mild applause they found their shoes very interesting. We decided to watch the last couple of songs and the encore from the top of the lawn where we could have a bit more fun.
So it was a pretty good week. It was fun to see a bunch of cool bands in fine form. At the very least, it was a good warm up for the madness of AC/DC that I'll be witnessing in a couple of weeks. I might want to invest in some earplugs before then.
Because I'm old.
Last Saturday night, my wife and I went to the Dayton Music Festival to catch Bob Pollard's new band, the Boston Spaceships. Opening the show were two really cool bands Hospital Garden and The Sailing. Hospital Garden was pretty good, and I was especially impressed with The Sailing. Their energetic sets perfectly set the stage for the Spaceships to come out and blow the crowd away.
Now, I've seen GbV/Bob solo about 35 times, and at this show I only saw ONE SONG that I have ever seen live before. They ended the night with the stalwart classic "Game of Pricks," and for a solid two hours before that they played a perfect mixture of new material and obscure classics. This would be like going to see Springsteen and him playing his next two albums, a bunch of songs from the Tracks boxset, and then finishing with "Born to Run." To translate: This was a real treat for a die hard fan like me.
It helps that Bob has a fantastic band along for the ride. Chris Slusarenko and Tommy Keene were monsters of the guitars, new comer John Moen pounded the material along with precision, and the always great Jason Narducy brought his usual great bass playing and wonderful backing vocals. And Bob, well, Bob was in great voice, and, when you play songs like "Dorothy's a Planet" and "Headache Revolution," well, you're going to give the crowd what they want. It was a great show, and I hope Bob keeps this band around for a few more tours.
On Sunday I went to Gem City Records and caught two sets as part of their Sunday instore series. A band that has been getting a lot of spins around our household lately, Wake Up Mordecai, was one of the two bands. They put on another good set, playing a few new songs and a couple off their first EP North to the Nth Degree, including my personnel favorite "Now We're Communicating." I am told that "Girls Don't Ride In Viking Ships" was recently played on WOXY, which is pretty cool. I highly recommend these guys if you haven't checked them out.
After a couple of days healing from our busy weekend, we headed to Cowtown (or the more recent nickname, C-Bus) for a night with Death Cab for Cutie. My wife and I attended the show with my long partner in rock crimes, JB. We arrived as openers Tegan and Sarah took the stage. Though I haven't spent much time with their music, I thought they were a pretty decent opening act for the evening. A good portion of the crowd treated them like royality as they played, which might account for the crowd of statues during Death Cab's set.
We got up close in the packed crowd for Death Cab, and the band did not disappoint. They played a blazing set that reminded me at times of Pearl Jam. The three of us had a great time as the band knocked out song after song, but the rest of the crowd wasn't quite on the same page. It seems that between mild applause they found their shoes very interesting. We decided to watch the last couple of songs and the encore from the top of the lawn where we could have a bit more fun.
So it was a pretty good week. It was fun to see a bunch of cool bands in fine form. At the very least, it was a good warm up for the madness of AC/DC that I'll be witnessing in a couple of weeks. I might want to invest in some earplugs before then.
Because I'm old.
Monday, September 29, 2008
Genius
September Gurls-Big Star
Caroline No-The Beach Boys
Shake Some Action-The Flamin' Groovies
Alone Again Or-Love
Waiting For My Man (Live)-The Velvet Underground
Visions of Johanna-Bob Dylan
You're Gonna Miss Me-The 13th Floor Elevators
There She Goes Again-The Velvet Underground
Modern Girl-Sleater-Kinney
Down On the Street-The Stooges
I Just Wasn't Made for These Times-The Beach Boys
Andmoreagain-Love
Octopus-Syd Barrett
All Tomorrow's Parties-The Velvet Underground
Sunday Morning-The Velvet Underground
T.V. Eye-The Stooges
So You Want to Be a Rock 'N' Roll Star-The Byrds
Surf's Up-The Beach Boys
Femme Fatale-The Velvet Underground
Mr. Spaceman-The Byrds
Care of Cell 44-The Zombies
So Sad About Us-The Who
One of Us Must Know-Bob Dylan
Dig Me Out-Sleater-Kinney
Salt of the Earth-The Rolling Stones
This is the play list I've been listening to a lot this week as I ease my way back into walking everyday. It is also my first experiment using the new iTunes software called Genius. Basically, you choose a song that you like and Genius creates a playlist from your library. Naturally, I picked the Big Star classic "September Gurls," one of my all time favorites, to experiment with this new software.
I have mixed feelings after my first experience with Genius. As an avid mix maker (see my blog about the Purple Notebook), I was excited about the possibilities of this program. I use mixes for a number of reasons. I am always looking for new ways to hear songs I am familiar with, and placing them alongside other songs within a mix helps to do this. Many times it helps me hear a song differently out of it's original context, giving it new meaning to me. I also like to use mixes to explore songs and artists that I am not as familiar with. I've become a big fan of many musicians after doing this, often digging into deeper album cuts and rarities.
Genius succeeded in doing both of these things, yet, it also exposed a couple of potential flaws in making mixes. I rarely use the same artists over when making a mix such as this, and Genius did this seven times. I also usually avoid putting back to back songs from artists, something that also occurs here. I also found the overall selection slightly puzzling. I think The Velvet Underground would fit on a mix with Big Star, but not in the manner they are represented here. I find it odd that The Stooges "T.V. Eye" makes the cut, yet not one Beatles song shows up.
But, as I said, Genius did get a couple of things right. The Who, Flamin' Groovies, Zombies, and Rolling Stones songs were all great picks. I also was not very familiar with the Love song "Andmoreagain," but I really liked the song and won't be too surprised if it shows up in future mixes. Also, despite a couple of flow issues, there were a couple of really good stretches of this mix that I really enjoyed. The "Surf's Up" to "One of Us Must Know" part of the mix was really strong in particular.
So, basically, Genius doesn't quite live up to the hype for me (in this case, super mix maker!), but I admit it is a pretty cool toy to use. I'm always looking for new ways to experience music, and I think Genius is a nice new way to accomplish this. That can't be a bad thing.
Caroline No-The Beach Boys
Shake Some Action-The Flamin' Groovies
Alone Again Or-Love
Waiting For My Man (Live)-The Velvet Underground
Visions of Johanna-Bob Dylan
You're Gonna Miss Me-The 13th Floor Elevators
There She Goes Again-The Velvet Underground
Modern Girl-Sleater-Kinney
Down On the Street-The Stooges
I Just Wasn't Made for These Times-The Beach Boys
Andmoreagain-Love
Octopus-Syd Barrett
All Tomorrow's Parties-The Velvet Underground
Sunday Morning-The Velvet Underground
T.V. Eye-The Stooges
So You Want to Be a Rock 'N' Roll Star-The Byrds
Surf's Up-The Beach Boys
Femme Fatale-The Velvet Underground
Mr. Spaceman-The Byrds
Care of Cell 44-The Zombies
So Sad About Us-The Who
One of Us Must Know-Bob Dylan
Dig Me Out-Sleater-Kinney
Salt of the Earth-The Rolling Stones
This is the play list I've been listening to a lot this week as I ease my way back into walking everyday. It is also my first experiment using the new iTunes software called Genius. Basically, you choose a song that you like and Genius creates a playlist from your library. Naturally, I picked the Big Star classic "September Gurls," one of my all time favorites, to experiment with this new software.
I have mixed feelings after my first experience with Genius. As an avid mix maker (see my blog about the Purple Notebook), I was excited about the possibilities of this program. I use mixes for a number of reasons. I am always looking for new ways to hear songs I am familiar with, and placing them alongside other songs within a mix helps to do this. Many times it helps me hear a song differently out of it's original context, giving it new meaning to me. I also like to use mixes to explore songs and artists that I am not as familiar with. I've become a big fan of many musicians after doing this, often digging into deeper album cuts and rarities.
Genius succeeded in doing both of these things, yet, it also exposed a couple of potential flaws in making mixes. I rarely use the same artists over when making a mix such as this, and Genius did this seven times. I also usually avoid putting back to back songs from artists, something that also occurs here. I also found the overall selection slightly puzzling. I think The Velvet Underground would fit on a mix with Big Star, but not in the manner they are represented here. I find it odd that The Stooges "T.V. Eye" makes the cut, yet not one Beatles song shows up.
But, as I said, Genius did get a couple of things right. The Who, Flamin' Groovies, Zombies, and Rolling Stones songs were all great picks. I also was not very familiar with the Love song "Andmoreagain," but I really liked the song and won't be too surprised if it shows up in future mixes. Also, despite a couple of flow issues, there were a couple of really good stretches of this mix that I really enjoyed. The "Surf's Up" to "One of Us Must Know" part of the mix was really strong in particular.
So, basically, Genius doesn't quite live up to the hype for me (in this case, super mix maker!), but I admit it is a pretty cool toy to use. I'm always looking for new ways to experience music, and I think Genius is a nice new way to accomplish this. That can't be a bad thing.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Wednesday Afternoon Playlist
Safe As Milk-Captain Beefheart & The Magic Band
River Song-Dennis Wilson
Mournin' Glory Story-Harry Nilsson
Every Night-Paul McCartney
Afraid-Nico
Waitin' 'Round To Die-Townes Van Zandt
American Crucifixion Resurrection-The 4 Seasons
Perfectly Lethal-The Replacements
Absolutely Sweet Marie-Bob Dylan
5D (Fifth Dimension)-The Byrds
Song to the Siren-Tim Buckley
Widow's Walk-Van Dyke Parks
Afternoon Tea-The Kinks
God Knows I'm Good-David Bowie
Diamond Meadows-T.Rex
Baron Saturday-The Pretty Things
I wish I could blame my lack of posts recently on the wind storm that knocked out power all over town. But, we didn't lose power at all. It seems I have just been too lazy to write any new posts. I blame this on football. I did make a mixtape on Sunday that is pretty great. It's called 34 Gems. I'll write more about this after I have absorbed it a little more, but I do think that this might be my best mix in a while.
One of my favorite activities, and one that gives me the opportunity to listen to a lot of music, is my constitutionals. Roughly a year ago, I started walking about five miles a day. Since then, I have logged over 1,200 miles. In fact, I was out walking last Sunday when the wind storm that knocked out most the power in town started. I have not been able to go since Sunday because the trails that I frequent are closed until they can clear all the debris. Needless to say, I am getting antsy to get back out, especially since the weather has been so beautiful in the aftermath of the storm.
So, to help fight my antsy feeling, I created the above play list. A lot of the songs are from the most recent albums that I have purchased, though some are older songs from iTunes that I haven't listened to in a while. I think the play list flows remarkably well. I really like the Harry Nilsson/Paul McCartney/Nico/Townes Van Zandt combination. The list also has the song from which I named this blog, a great unreleased track from the re-issue of one of my all time favorite albums The Replacements Let It Be. I originally bought the album right after Christmas my junior year in high school with a gift certificate to Best Buy that my Grandma got me. Thanks Grandma, though I am not sure she would have approved of an album that had a song called "Gary's Got a Boner."
Another highlight of this one is the inclusion of "Song to the Siren" by Tim Buckley, a song I have been going back to again and again lately. I love this song. It's from his album Starsailor, a strange album that I got a couple of months back. The album is definately not what I was expecting from an artist I thought was primarily a singer/songwriter. The songs are jazz influenced and slightly experimental in nature. It's an interesting listen.
River Song-Dennis Wilson
Mournin' Glory Story-Harry Nilsson
Every Night-Paul McCartney
Afraid-Nico
Waitin' 'Round To Die-Townes Van Zandt
American Crucifixion Resurrection-The 4 Seasons
Perfectly Lethal-The Replacements
Absolutely Sweet Marie-Bob Dylan
5D (Fifth Dimension)-The Byrds
Song to the Siren-Tim Buckley
Widow's Walk-Van Dyke Parks
Afternoon Tea-The Kinks
God Knows I'm Good-David Bowie
Diamond Meadows-T.Rex
Baron Saturday-The Pretty Things
I wish I could blame my lack of posts recently on the wind storm that knocked out power all over town. But, we didn't lose power at all. It seems I have just been too lazy to write any new posts. I blame this on football. I did make a mixtape on Sunday that is pretty great. It's called 34 Gems. I'll write more about this after I have absorbed it a little more, but I do think that this might be my best mix in a while.
One of my favorite activities, and one that gives me the opportunity to listen to a lot of music, is my constitutionals. Roughly a year ago, I started walking about five miles a day. Since then, I have logged over 1,200 miles. In fact, I was out walking last Sunday when the wind storm that knocked out most the power in town started. I have not been able to go since Sunday because the trails that I frequent are closed until they can clear all the debris. Needless to say, I am getting antsy to get back out, especially since the weather has been so beautiful in the aftermath of the storm.
So, to help fight my antsy feeling, I created the above play list. A lot of the songs are from the most recent albums that I have purchased, though some are older songs from iTunes that I haven't listened to in a while. I think the play list flows remarkably well. I really like the Harry Nilsson/Paul McCartney/Nico/Townes Van Zandt combination. The list also has the song from which I named this blog, a great unreleased track from the re-issue of one of my all time favorite albums The Replacements Let It Be. I originally bought the album right after Christmas my junior year in high school with a gift certificate to Best Buy that my Grandma got me. Thanks Grandma, though I am not sure she would have approved of an album that had a song called "Gary's Got a Boner."
Another highlight of this one is the inclusion of "Song to the Siren" by Tim Buckley, a song I have been going back to again and again lately. I love this song. It's from his album Starsailor, a strange album that I got a couple of months back. The album is definately not what I was expecting from an artist I thought was primarily a singer/songwriter. The songs are jazz influenced and slightly experimental in nature. It's an interesting listen.
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