Dailybeatz scooped me

I was going to write about "Alligator" by Tegan and Sara, but Dailybeatz scooped me, damn them! DAMN THEM I SAY!

-S

Tell us what we did wrong, then you can blame us for it

I just stumbled on to "Heretics" by Andrew Bird, and I think I'm in love. The song starts off with a pretty awesome intro, layered guitars and then breaks off in to a driving drum and then Bird breaks in with his violin and absolutely haunting vocals (the kind of thing you might expect from Elliot Smith a la "Needle In The Hay" and " How To Take A Fall").

Bird however, sings with the upbeat-ish sound that you hear in Rogue Wave's "Electro-Socket Blues" *albeit a little turned down on the peppiness scale but with dark lyrics that I loved so much). Bird chimes in with this line: "You make your mountains of handkerchiefs where the mascara always runs," (LOVE IT!).

The violin comes off perfectly, somehow fitting with the percussion and driving the songs melody through the guitar. Furthermore, no instrument truly dominates the song in a way that's obtrusive to the others. As I said before Birds vocals are haunting and really stick with you. You simply cannot get this song out of your head after a listen. Enjoy! (Chag Sameach Pesach-if your a member of the tribe that is)

"Heretics" by Andrew Bird from Armchair Apocrypha (2007)

-S

P.S.-The album cover is great, not sure why is reminds me of the cover of Hawken's "The Ecology Of Commerce" not sure why...
P.P.S. This song is not Passover related, but it is Kosher for Passover at least.

Legs like little splinters/spiders

First song in a while where I don't know too much about the band or really much at all before I make a post. So here it goes I guess...I can't remember where I heard this song first, it may or may not have been related to my recent trip to New Orleans. It is a cover of the Architecture In Helsinki song "Heart It Races", another band which I already know next to nothing about.

Like any good blogger (I actually know nothing of bloggers) I did a little bit of research in to the band, Dr. Dog, who is responsible for this, dare I say, better than the original cover (I dare, trust me it is better). I was surprised (actually not so much) to see they have been compared to Pavement and Guided by Voices, but also (to my palpable surprise) to The Beatles and The Band.

I listened to this song maybe 5 times in a row before finally deciding to write about it. I cannot place where I have heard and intro exactly like the one in this song. They sounds like a lot of bands that I listen to mashed together but I hear so many other bands in their sound its impossible to just name a few. The slide guitar that comes in halfway through is masterful in its placement and Toby Leaman's vocals are great (It is literally killing me not being able to remember who I think Leaman sounds like...suggestions?). The rolling guitar riff around 2:00 is beautiful for some reason, I cannot get it out of my head, and the harmonies and backing vocals (done by the entire band) fit so perfectly over the drums.

Move over Architecture In Helsinki, Dr. Dog has stolen your song, and it doesn't look like you deserve it back. I really hope everyone appreciates this track as much as I did, its truly incredible.

"Heart It Races" by Dr.Dog(2007)*Original by Architecture In Helsinki*

-S

Note: Dr.Dog is not an actual medical doctor and is not and FDA approved treatment for any illness or condition

Tension is high under sea and over sky

As a kid, driving to my dad's office, or any time I was in his car, we used to listen to NPR. I didn't really get a true appreciation for the staff at NPR until I started doing radio myself earlier this year. Those people are true professionals. Thus, I started listening to NPR in larger and larger doses. I was listening to this "American Life" and "Wait Wait, Don't Tell Me" as often as I was watching TV. One thing that I really appreciated though was their really in-depth music reviews. One such band that was interviewed was Ted Leo And The Pharmacists.

The show interviewed Ted Leo and played some of his music. I cannot remember for the life of me what they played on the show but I knew I loved it. I went on an absolute Limewire spree and downloaded probably 15 songs and listened to all of 4 before I was on to my next band. They faded to the back of my mind and I forgot about them for about six months.

Eventually I found them again and I was impressed as ever. I looked in to them a little more and found they were carried on the Matador label (Go figure, seems like everything I listen to nowadays was at some point or another carried by Matador.) Anyway, I really think these guys are rockin'. They give off that punk sound without coming off as punk but more indie rock. They know when to shred and when the synthesizer is appropriate (something taken for granted these days). As they describe themselves they also have a "dub reggae sound" (A little debatable) and "folk rock" which I totally hear sometimes. The only complaint I may have is Ted Leo does have the slightest tendency to create vocals that sound very much the same in every song (that may just be my thought though). Anyway, I think most will really enjoy these guys.

"Little Dawn" by Ted Leo And The Pharmacists from Shake The Sheets (2004)

"Where Have All The Rude Boys Gone" by Ted Leo And The Pharmacists from Hearts Of Oak (2003)

"Biomusicology" by Ted Leo And The Pharmacists from The Tyranny of Distance (2001)

-S

Update: Ted Leo And The Pharmacists came out with a new album on March 9, 2010 called The Brutalist Bricks so far its a pretty good listen

P.S.-Happy Birthday Dad

Dream obscene

I'm sure most people have heard of Chat Roulette at this point. If you haven't its a website that video connects you to random strangers, most are violently sexually assaulting themselves, however once in a while you meet someone pretty cool. I went out to find new music for my radio show and asked people on Chat Roulette what their favorite song was, looking up the songs one by one to see if my interests fell in line with others.

One such band I came across was Placebo. They are an Alternitive Rock band from London. As with most bands from London at the time (1994), they gave off the sound of bands like Oasis and The Smiths (two of the most popular Alt Rock/Indie Rock bands in the country at the time).

Up until that day on Chat Roulette I had not heard of Placebo from a girl in Minnesota, and I'm really glad I stumbled upon them. They do differentiate themselves somewhat from the rest of the Brit Rock scene but they do have the slightest tendency to sound generic at times.

Anyways, I hope you all enjoy these guys, I know they have become kind of an integral part of my music library.

"Meds" by Placebo from Live at La Cigarle (2006)

"Special Needs" by Placebo from Sleeping With Ghosts (2006)

-S

Sunday Soundtrack

Here ya' go ("Have a fucking awesome week"-Abe Lincoln)

"The Book Of Right-On" by Joanna Newsom

"Drops of Jupiter" by Train

"Falling Slowly" by Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová

"Left & Right In The Dark" by Julian Casablancas

"Drug Dealer Girl" by Mike Posner and The Brain Trust

"Kissing The Lipless" by The Shins

"Cowgirl In The Sand" by Neil Young

-S

One Reason

There have been a lot of great songs that I've found perusing Grammy Performances (Did you see Elton John and Eminem do "Stan"? It's amazing I don't care what anyone says...but that is another post for another time.)

This song though was played at the Grammy's but it is not the version I am writing about. The song in question is "Gimme One Reason" by Tracy Chapman performed with Eric Clapton (who may or may not be God) The combination of Chapman's smokey vocals and saucy lyrics in combo with Clapton's guitar is dripping with excellence. Pure. Unadulterated. Excellence.

The song only gets better from the beginning starting with an intro from Chapman and moving in to the vocals which ends up being a duet of two of the most powerful forces in music and the whole song is topped off with Clapton more or less solo-ing throughout the song. Cheers!

"Gimme One Reason" by Tracy Chapman featuring Eric Clapton (Live)

-S

A good song, even if you haven't read the Arthur Pendragon books

I'd like to say thanks really quickly to Spencer for letting me blog.

At college, I swap music libraries like some people swap bodily fluids at college; frequently and indiscriminately. I get some good music from my friends, but more often than not I get music I don't mind, but I don't love. So when I heard "Flume" by Bon Iver my mind was blown. I had been shuffling through my ipod and this song grabbed my attention with the first few seconds.

The song sounded like the illegitimate love-child of Iron and Wine, The Shins playing in slow motion, and a homeless guy with a guitar crooning on the street. The melody is really haunting and eerie and gives you this sense that your surrounded in this strange mist. It reminded me of Samuel Beam of Iron and Wine fame, singing so softly you can barely hear and yet it consumes all of your attention.

The lyrics are really simple, but powerful. Strong enough to make you feel what the singer is feeling, yet vague enough that you can't describe what it is your both actually feeling. Musically, the song is pretty basic and a bit repetitive, but it's ok because that's how it was intended to be. Like showing up in jeans and a stained t-shirt to a friend's house, it's not bad because it's what's appropriate and what you intended. Definitely give it a listen.

"Flume" by Bon Iver from For Emma, Forever Ago (2008)

-E

This time of night I could call

Sometimes you find a band in your music library and your not so sure how it got there, but your just glad it did. I somehow found Voxtrot recently and am really just enjoying them.

It wasn't love at first sight, nor do I think I will ever love them, but you can like them as a friend. They are a little like the Strokes without the raw vocals of Julian Casablancas, sounding more like Ted Leo of Ted Leo and The Pharmacists with the guitar of Nick Valensi thrown in (you might be able to throw in the song structure of The Killers too).

I'm once again real tired, that's what high school does to you I guess...so here's Voxtrot

"The Start Of Something" by Voxtrot from Raised By Wolves (2005)

"Missing Pieces" by Voxtrot from Raised By Wolves (2005)

-S

When your around me I'm someone else

Once in a while I come across a band that I am surprised not to have heard about. I recently started listening to Pavement at the suggestion of my high school English teacher. He's a huge fan and is even going to their reunion show in New York this September.

Regardless, they were a whole section of indie music that I had not heard influencing bands such as The White Stripes and Modest Mouse (a couple of my favorites). Recently though, I stumbled upon Guided By Voices led by singer/songwriter Robert Pollard.

The band from Dayton, OH, started up in 1983 and recently broke up in 2004 (I guess '04 was a bad year for bands, Dispatch and Phish broke up that year too). Regardless, you can here the song writing of Pavement and the guitar tones familiar to Modest Mouse and The Mountain Goats in Pollard's songs (of which he has claimed over 1,300 to his name). Pollard brings 'it' with the catchy lyrical structure and the punchy guitar that I love so much.

"Teenage FBI" by Guided By Voices from Do The Collapse (1999)

"I Am A Scientist" by Guided By Voices from Bee Thousand (1994)

"My Valuable Hunting Knife" by Guided By Voices from Alien Lanes (1995)

-S

P.S. Fun Fact: Guided By Voices basically released an album every year while active from '83-'04. They also used the same Lo-Fi style that John Darnielle loves to use with The Mountain Goats.

Life is what you manage in between

I'm more or less sure that the last time my Dad showed me a band that I actually liked was probably when I learned about the Eagles when I was in the 6th grade (He reads this blog, so...sorry Dad, also this isn't to say that: Broken Bells=Eagles, just that I appreciate the recommendation from my Dad).

However after seven long years, the wait is finally over, I have now listned to the Broken Bells and they are really great. After a little bit of research I found out one of the many reasons I like them so much. First off they are produced by Danger Mouse (who is responsible for The Grey Album-try listening to "December 4th", its a total trip).

Another reason I must like them so much is the fact that they are the side project of James Mercer, frontman of the Shins (and Garden State, just kidding, not really though). The song is called "October" and really comes off with that light and airy sound that Mercer is known for with the Shins. But it also has a much more abrasive (in a good way) guitar part that I'm just not used to with the Shins.

"October" by Broken Bells from Broken Bells (2009)

-S

Easy being an All-Star

I took a class sohpomore year called Music of the Americas, which, in the end, turned out to be an overall pretty lame class. However, one thing that I did get out of it was learning about some pretty cool bands such as Louis Jordan and the Big Mama Thorton.

Basically the class consisted of a North-South timeline of popular music as it traced its way down from Canada to the American South and South American (Inuit Throat Singing was definitely a highlight of the class, also see Tuvan Throat singing of Mongolia). That is not where I got this band though. On the last day of the Ska/Rock-Steady/Reggae unit we went over a band in passing called the Easy Star All-Stars who had done an entire cover album of Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon (1973) entitled "Dub Side Of The Moon".

The album became an instant classic for me, almost as good as the original (well, actually thats a stretch). After doing some more research in to the band I found whole album covers of classics like the Beatles Srgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band (aptly named the Lonely Hearts Dub Band) and Radiohead's 97' classic OK Computer.

I didn't think that I could justify (is it weird that as I wrote that I, to my dismay, thought of how much I really dislike Justin Timberlake's music?)making a post for just one of the songs so I decided to do a little 6-song complilation in which I just picked my two favorites from each album.

"Money" by Easy Star All-Stars from Dub Side of the Moon (2003)

"Brain Damage" by Easy Star All-Stars from Dub Side of the Moon (2003)

"Karma Police" by Easy Star All-Stars from Radiodread (2006)

"Paranoid Android" by Easy Star All-Stars from Radiodread (2006)

"Fixing A Hole" by Easy Star All-Stars from Easy Star's Lonely Hearts Dub Band (2009)

"A Day In The Life" by Easy Star All-Stars from Easy Star's Lonely Hearts Dub Band (2009)

-S

Baby I adore you

I guess you've figured it out by now, I love the word-play in lyrics to the extent that every fourth blog post is about songs with awesome lyrics. This post will be no exception, so take cover.

A friend turned me on to an Israeli singer named Asaf Avidan, who in Israel has become very popular but also a little controversial for his decision to sing in English. He sounds almost exactly like Janis Joplin (or at least is doing a VERY good impression of her, maybe with a little Jack White thrown in there for good measure). I was actually a little surprised to learn he was male after listening to him. However his voice is still very unique compared to Joplin's. I won't leave you all hanging though, plus I'm a little tired so here is a little Asaf Avidan and the Mojos.

"Your Anchor" by Asaf Avidan and the Mojos from The Reckoning (2008)

"Her Lies" by Asaf Avidan and the Mojos from The Reckoning (2008)


-S

Cecilia (Cover) - Local Natives

in still form:


in action:



love,
ɱ

Sunday Soundtrack

About to leave my house, but here goes nothin':

"The Piano Has Been Drinking" by Tom Waits (Best version I could find song starts around 20 seconds)
"Set The Fire To The Third Bar" by Snow Patrol ft. Martha Wainwright
"Breakeven" by The Script
"Slow Show" by The National
"Small Catastrophe" by The Tiny Tin Hearts
"Your Ex-Lover Is Dead" by Stars
"Boo" by Pinback

— S

Always assigned to me

I realize I'm hardly as diligent as Spencer when it comes to posting — thus, I have gathered my things and sat myself in front of my computer minutes before I am to leave (to attend a concert with my entire family, believe it or not) to get this done.

The way I grow unhealthily obsessed with music is through scavenging and iTunes' repeat button. What's sickening is that I'm usually more inclined to get into a band if I'm positive no one else that I know has talked about them before.

That being said, I know that Rogue Wave is a terribly popular band among indie folks (and the pseudo ones we tend to see more frequently). After getting Spencer into the groove of "Electro-Socket Blues" and finding every circumstance under which I could listen to the album Asleep At Heaven's Gate "appropriately", decided to keep checking in on them.



Here's "Good Morning (The Future)" off of their still-warm album Permalight. Less lilting, but otherwise bumpin'. Angels & Airwaves done right, almost.

— ɱ

P.S. HA! Beat the Sunday Playlist.

P.P.S. Good Morning (The Future) [Live] — not as groovy, but definitely more charming.

The most bitter heart

Tonight I'm a little tired and also I'm not sitting in front of my own computer. But I do have a few little gems up my sleeve.

The song is "Bitter Heart" by Zee Avi. It's a little in the same vein as Colbie Caillat and Norah Jones in terms of lyrics and her in some ways haunting voice, with a tiny tingle of sentimentality.

It's really just happy, and does a great job of conveying the emotion (its the same feeling, I'm embarrassed to say, I get when I listen to "Bubbly.") Also this song is dotted with a little bit of full-on-no-holds-barred-trumpet-action (maybe a little extreme, but hey, it's my blog after all.)

Anyway, see you all tomorrow for the Sunday Soundtrack!

"Bitter Heart" by Zee Avi from Zee Avi (2009)

— S

P.S. My "Zee Avi Fact Of The Day" is that she is Sarawakian (she's from Sarawak, Borneo!)

Come on in, we haven't slept for weeks

You know those bands that grow on you? For me, no band personifies this change better than The Mountain Goats. I started listening to them in 7th grade, and only to a measly three songs. I'm not sure how I heard about them or what drew me in but something just held me.

The first song I ever heard by them was "The Best Ever Death Metal Band In Denton". For the most part this song is pretty representative of the band. Lead singer John Darnielle started the band in the early 90's, recording with a very lo-fi sound (That he used up until 2002ish). I knew when I heard this song that this band was something special but I don't think I had the capacity to understand this at the time. When I was in 7th grade it was 2005 and The Mountain Goats had come a long way from the Lo-fi sound that I was used to, but I was a little behind the times.

I'm not sure I understood "The Best Ever Death Metal Band In Denton" at the time, all I knew was that it was the story of a high school metal band and that it ends with the lyrics "Hail Satan" (Not sure why but this felt so scandalous when I first listened to it).

The main message of the song is that when someone has a dream, you can't stop it by putting it down, our dreams live on no matter what. "When you punish a person for dreaming his dream don't expect him to thank or forgive you," Darnielle says it better wouldn't you say?

Anyway, here's the song, I won't tell you much more about the band because I want people to discover this band for themselves, they are truly amazing and definitely worth exploring more. I'll start you off a little though...

"The Best Ever Death Metal Band In Denton" by The Mountain Goats from All Hail West Texas (2002)

"This Year" by The Mountain Goats from The Sunset Tree (2005)

"Color In Your Cheeks" by The Mountain Goats from All Hail West Texas (2002)

— S

Let's get a bottle and drink alone tonight

When I was a freshman in high school I met this girl who, as it turned out, had a music taste very much like my own. This was surprising to me at the time because I never met another person whose music library was almost alike in every way to mine. I was really happy about this considering it was my first couple of weeks in a new town where I didn't know a soul.

We shared a lot of music that year, one of the bands she turned me on to was Minus The Bear. I instantly fell in love and downloaded every song I could find and even bought some CDs (who buys those anymore? Sorry Record Labels.)

As with most bands I download, I get more songs than I can handle at the time, and a few songs fly under my radar, some for months or years at a time. One such song was Absinthe "Party At The Fly Honey Warehouse" a behemoth of a song for me at the time, weighing in at five and half minutes (At the time this was an absolute ballad for me, I was still a year or two from listening to Phish and the Grateful Dead, everything is relative I guess...)

To get the full experience, close your eyes. This song is truly amazing, great intro, lyrics are solid, and a droning but evolving sound (not unlike Modest Mouse's "Dramamine" in the sense that they both build off of a single riff.)

This past December I got to see this band in concert, I was waiting the whole show for this song and they walk off stage, and I'm eagerly waiting to see what the encore was, and lo and behold! This was it! (This song is a horse of a completely different color live, trust me, possibly even better)

Absinthe Party At The Fly Honey Warehouse by Minus The Bear from Highly Refined Pirate (2002)

— S

My heart just skipped a beat

So as I was doing just a little poking around for my last post about Charlotte Gainsbourg and Beck's new song "Heaven Can Wait" I stumbled upon another fantastic song.

To back-track a little and be a bit more specific, I was looking in to the duet that Lou Reed/Mo Tucker had going on "I'm Sticking With You", the Velvet Underground song (I won't lie, while I am a big VU fan, I heard this particular song first in Juno, I'm a wee-bit embarrassed) What I managed to find through the majesty of the world wide interwebs was another cover of "I'm Sticking With You" done by one of my all time favorite bands, The Decemberists. In this version Colin Meloy/Jenny Conolee duet for a version which, in my humble opinion, rivals the original. Needless to say, the lyrics are cute, far from a masterpiece, but the song is good.

"I'm Sticking With You" by The Decemberists from Always the Bridesmaid: Volume II (2008)

— S

Runs in the family

I took a class called American Literature and Nature this year which focused on American writers who took on the topic of the "Great Outdoors," writers like Henry David Thoreau and William Faulkner.

However that is not what this post is about, it's about a field trip that we took to a mountain in our area (mid-winter mind you) and we also stopped at a little cafe/bookstore/record shop for lunch. While there I talked to my teacher about music (turns out we have a pretty similar taste...she's going to see Pavement in September, I'm exceedingly jealous). One of the musicians we talked about was Serge Gainsbourg (he's great in his own right, listen to "Bonnie and Clyde" with Brigette Bardot). The conversation turned to his daughter Charlotte and her new album IRM produced by Beck (whom I love anyway, Odelay was phenomenal). I ended up just downloading the whole album as soon as I got home and stumbled upon "Heaven Can Wait" a duet she did with Beck.

Led by a punchy piano/drum part the combo of their voices is really what I've been looking for recently (after going on a VU bender and falling in love with Mo Tucker's vocals paired with Lou Reed on "I'm Sticking With You"). Without further adieu, enjoy...

"Heaven Can Wait" — Charlotte Gainsbourg and Beck from IRM (2009)

— S

#1 in my book (damn, thats so hokey)

I refuse to care what anyone says, Scarlett Johansson is incredibly hot (She always comes in the top 5ish for the Maxim Hot 100, but really should be #1). Regardless though, that's not what this blog is about, it's about music.

But therein lies the intersting part, Johansson also has an incredible voice and not too long ago teamed up with Pete Yorn for a collaboration entitled The Break Up and last May released the single "Relator."

Johansson comes across with the kind of vocals you would expect out of a smokey jazz club (it's kind of hard not to picture this when listening to it either) and gives kind of a 50's lyrical aesthetic. Pete Yorn lends some pretty solid back-up vocals as well as a late 50's guitar sound that really makes this song what it is (although there's nothing 50's about the intro). So here's to hot actresses that also have some serious musical talent!

"Relator"-Pete Yorn & Scarlett Johansson from Break Up 2009 (Just a heads up: the music video sets my "indie-radar" ablaze, ABLAZE I SAY)

-S

bumpin' the busted sign

Though it was released quite some time ago, I stumbled upon this gem (Cream cover? Absolutely not.) prowling through the interwebz for something that was a little tougher to chew than the lovely crap-pop I've been getting into. True, it smells strongly of a Franz Ferdinand/Scissor Sisters/Beck lovechild, but has some sort of quirkyness all the same. I myself, never tire of well-placed melodic "oh"s and a rumbling piano intro.

FunkMaster Bass General returns with coordinated geetar and synth-claps? I'm ready to groove in a big way.

Born Under a Bad Sign — Moneybrother from Real Control (2009)


— ɱ

It's just that time of year

Regardless of the weather outside, this song really just makes me feel happy.

"Sunshine" by Atmosphere is the story of overcoming triumph...in this case, a hangover (hey, everyone has their own hurdles). This is such a feelgood song, especially when Spring/Summer-time are rolling around. Slug flows on:

"If I could I would keep this feeling in a plastic jar
Bust it out whenever someone's actin hard
Settle down, barbeque in the backyard
The kids get treats and old folks get classic cars
Every day that gets to pass is a success
Every woman looks better in a sun dress"

Now how can that not make you smile?

— S

Sunday Soundtrack

Each week, on Sundays, I'm going to attempt to make a 7-Song playlist, I'll try and keep it on the acoustic side for a softer Sunday, so I guess here it goes (in no particular order of course):

"Dead Flowers" - The Rolling Stones
"Liar" - Built To Spill
"Walden and the Willow Tree" - The Dimes
"Mr. Solo Dolo" - KiD CuDi
"Baby Bitch" - Ween
"Intentions Alone" - Olympic Symposium
"Cornerstone" - The Arctic Monkeys

— S

Space is not just a place for stars

Like I said in my last post I really like great lyricism and also, great wordplay. One of the best songs I've heard in a while has been a song by the band The Good Life. "Album of the Year" tells the story of an entire relationship, which is pretty par for the course in a lot of song these days (most songs come to think of it...)

Regardless, Tim Kasher, of Cursive fame (see: "The Recluse" by Cursive, great guitar riff, with some perfectly places strings) really knows what he's doing in "Album of The Year", he proves himself as a master of wordplay and just a really endearing story. I won't spoil the story but "Album of the Year" is a great listen, with stellar lyrics.

"Album of the Year (Live)" - The Good Life (Very different, but also worth a listen)

— S

Can You Feel It?

I LOVE MUSICAL REFERENCES!

And "Believe" by The Dirty Heads is chock-full of them. From singing/rapping about bands such as Naughty by Nature and lifting a few riffs off of Sublime's "What I Got," "Believe" ends up being a total jam.

If you feel like you've heard them before, don't be surprised, they sound eerily similar to Sublime. Of all the songs I've heard by them so far, "Believe" takes the cake, but they also have a great softer cover of "Viva La Vida" of Coldplay fame. Also, not sure why the line about 'givin a little kick' whenever a Hendrix riff came on really is just superb, where have the song writers like Jared Watson and Duddy Bushnell gone?

I'm a huge believer in hard-core lyricism and just great word play. Anyway this is a great song, and, not sure why I'm feeling in the mood for great driving music, maybe its the spring air but it's that time of year, "Believe" is no exception.

— S

East Bay

Talking with a friend a couple years ago, I stumbled on this song. [editor's note: It's important to know that Spencer survived a brief electric bass career, during which he pestered his friends and family for ideas about songs to learn. After a while, a competition emerged. This little tune surfaced as a winner.] It's really rocking in the most basic sense of the word. It really just wants to make you rock out, if there ever was a song that exemplified it so well just going nuts. The song is "Journey To The End Of East Bay" by Rancid.

The song starts out with one of the funkiest bass lines I've heard in a long time and then break out with a strong guitar and then some really punk vocals. Besides just being a rockin' song, the lyrics are pretty stellar.

"But there was always an urgent need to belong
All these bands and all these people
All these friends and we were equals but
What are you gonna do when everybody goes on without you?" front man Tim Armstrong cries out.

All in all great lyrics, rocking tune, and, for some reason, a total feel good song. GO 90's PUNK!

Journey to the End of East Bay (Live) - Rancid (note: the bad-ass mohawk)

— S

I've got a brand new pair of roller skates

One of my campers from this past summer introduced me to a band called The Hilltop Hoods, an Australian rap group. What was really amazing about this was the fact that my campers are 9 and 10 years old (man, they are growing up faster every year).

Anyway, one song onto which I was instantly hooked was "The Nosebleed Section" which is a great listen anyway, catchy lyrics and an even catchier song that they sample. I got a little curious, because I had never heard the song it was sampling but it was literally stuck in my head all day.

After a long search I found "People In The Front Row" by Melanie Safka. She sings with kind of Joni Mitchell lo-fi sound that I'm always drawn to. I hadn't heard of Safka before but instantly reconized her voice on the track "Brand New Key" which is also a jam, its actually a pretty innocent sounding song with some pretty sexually charged innuendos. Both are great, and, thanks to the majesty of the Intertubes, are posted below:

Brand New Key (Live) - Melanie Safka

More Later,

— S

P.S. (Her blonde hair streak at age 63 is kind of foxy, just saying...THEN & NOW)

New Take on a Classic

So I was talking to my brother the other day who turned me on to this song. It's a remix, which made me a little cautious going in to it (I'm a little hesitant about remixes after I heard some awful Matisyahu remixes which subsequently ruined those songs for me), but the changes are pretty subtle and it just kind of gives it a much more upbeat sound.

I was talking to a friend who's a huge jazz fan about this song and he was telling me, you're almost not allowed to play this song out of respect for how great it was already. I think that's totally debatable (what's better flattery than imitation?).

I don't really know too much about the artist (Apple Juice Kid) other than the fact that he has an entire album of Louis Armstrong Covers. I won't bore you though so here ya' go!

What A Wonderful World — Apple Juice Kid
(more about Apple Juice Kid)

— S

First Entry

So for our first entry we'd just like to explain what we're all about.
So we are two high school students who were looking to get their unique opinions about music out to everyone else. Each day there will be two new posts from both Mara and myself about our "Song of the Day" (Soon to have a much catchier name, mind you). And at the end each we will post our "Soundtrack of The Week" (also waiting for a catchier name) which will comprise of five new songs from each of us.

Hopefully we'll have some other great stuff mixed in too like guest writers and lots and lots of puns! Hope to write back soon!

(Too many exclamation points used?)

— S