bruce springsteen

Looking at my old music folder I realised that I had listened to a lot of Bruce Springsteen this year. Further thought confirmed this to be true and I welcomed the mix of emotions that washed over me. What does this mean? It is not too much to want to know the answer to that question, is it?

What I do know is I have an appreciation and affection for his work between Born in the USA and Lucky Town, with Tunnel of Love being the stand out from that period. I had always had a fondness of his music from Nebraska to Born in the USA and casual interest in what he had put out before that, but it was Nebraska that particularly appealed to me. Tunnel of Love it seems has taken Nebraska and mixed it with Born in the USA.

There are lots of touching moments on the album. Here is the title track from this delightful album.

Sun Kil Moon

theme song for lying on the floor these last few weeks:

Sun Kil Moon - Gentle Moon.

I often wonder if the name of this band has a double meaning, 1) to pay
homage to Sun Kil Moon (also spelt Sung-Kil Moon, the boxer) and 2) to
amuse/blow the minds of ignorant westerners who are unfamiliar with
the pronunciation of Kil and pronounce the band name Sun Kill Moon.

I really hope so.

Broken Bells

theme song this afternoon:

Broken Bells, The Ghost Inside

I ran across this video right when it came out, then promptly forgot about how awesome the song is.

Never forget!

Wye Oak

theme song for a few weeks:

Wye Oak: Sight, Flight

I'm sort of glad I didn't find this song until now, I think it has the potential to do some real post-break-up-heart-ache-damage. Still, it's beautiful and amazing, and the fiddle will have you crying about something. Anything really.

Magnetic Fields

theme song. right now.

The Magnetic Fields, A Chicken With Its Head Cut Off

this has been a favorite for years. ever since it was sung to me by a darling boy after two weeks of silly romping around that ended in me being a grown-up and him moving... somewhere? neverland maybe? it always puts a smile on my face to think of those two weeks, and how I'm so much better off for having goals and drive in my life. to you, you dear silly boy. wherever you are.

the smashing pumpkins

There was a time from 1991 to 1999 when The Smashing Pumpkins were good and a time from 1991 to 1993 where they were awesome. Sadly, like so many good bands from that time, they were overshadowed by Nirvana.

Anyway, here's Rocket from Siamese Dream.

The Mountain Goats

Some time in 2005 I heard Tammy Wynette's D-I-V-O-R-C-E on the radio. Enraptured by this song, I ran to the Internet and armed with nothing but the word “divorce” I scoured my peer to peer music sharing program of choice to find this song, translation: I typed “divorce” into the the search and downloaded every result that came back. One of the first results to come back was There Will be No Divorce by The Mountain Goats. Hearing this, I ended the search and focused my attention on finding more by The Mountain Goats. They were like nothing I had ever heard before, raw more story than song they showed me that there was good music that wasn't put out by the major record labels.

I am sure you can work out the theme for today's song.

Interpol

theme song for this whole summer:

Interpol, Slow Hands

don't watch, just listen.

Agnostic Mountain Gospel Choir, ft. William Elliott Whitmore

theme song this evening:

Agnostic Mountain Gospel Choir, ft. William Elliott Whitmore, Nehemia's Misfortune

Holy god. I can bet nothing so interesting has ever happened in any one of my bathrooms. I will admit that in a fit of YouTube video clicking around, I found this little gem and checked it out just because it mentioned WEW. Have I mentioned that he and I will be married someday? We will live on the horse farm in IA that he grew up on, which is conveniently located within a short distance of my outcrops I did my MS/PhD research on. It's a match made in heaven if you ask me.

Modest Mouse

Theme song for the week: Modest Mouse – Missed the Boat

I first heard about Modest Mouse sometime in the early 2000s where I lived with the misconception that all modern music was shit. Popular music had achieved its apex sometime between 1994 and 1998 and it was now on the steep downward decline. So needless to say I dismissed them out of hand and didn't bother listening to them. The decision made I lived in blissful ignorance until sometime last year when looking for more emo music after being blown away by The Van Pelt's Sultans of Sentiment, the name Modest Mouse popped into my head and I listened to The Moon and Antarctica and was mildly pleased by it. Then This is a Long Drive for Someone With Nothing to Think About and was even more pleased, this pattern continued until I had progressed to We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sunk last Saturday and I was in love.

So the next time you are about dismiss a band you've never heard remember back to this blog entry and don't make the same mistake I did. Watch, listen, love and then go out and buy. Your ears and brain will thank you for it.

Amanda Palmer/Nirvana

theme song this evening:

Amanda Palmer, "Polly"

Yes, that is the same Polly by Nirvana. Can you believe Nevermind is 20 years old? Holy crap. Amanda Palmer is my new queen of musical reinterpretation. Sadly, I cannot find a YouTube video of this song, but please click here and scroll down the page to hear her version of the song.

In the mean time, please enjoy some 20 year old Nirvana.

Monster Magnet

I do not particularly care much for metal. In fact as a rule it along with whatever exactly “urban” is (anybody?) is my least favourite genre of music . Metal songs just seem to have a generic sameness that makes them interchangeable and totally unremarkable. This generic sound is partly a result of being ignorant and unversed in metal music and its intricacies, something that I tried to rectify, at the prompting of friends, by watching Metalocalypse. This fine and educational show gave me an understanding and appreciation of what it means to be metal but unfortunately did nothing to change my opinion on the music.

However, there are always exceptions to rules, and today's song is one such exception. Monster Magnet according to their Wikipedia entry are both heavy metal and stoner metal and for all intents and purposes should be like Usher to my ears. But through some quirk of fate they have succeeded in producing something with Space Lord, that is quite simply, awesome. Maybe it is the Oscar Wildesque lyrics, the cameo by Twiggy Rameriez or even the lightbulb suit, whatever it is it just works.

Do you need to feel like a complete and utter badass today? Then my friend, this is the song for you.

Idaho

Good morning,

I would like to cordially and humbly suggest a song for your music
blog, Idaho's "Waited for you" from their 2011 album "You were a Dick"
not only is it an awesome song, it would give your blog that little
extra kick it needs to improve it's "hipster cred" that all of you
cool kids gain sustenance from these days.

Faithfully yours,
Loyal Reader

DeVotchKa

theme song this evening:

DeVotchKa, Charlotte Mittnacht (The Fabulous)

In the election year bubble of 2004 (how is that 8 years ago? oh god, I've been in higher education for over 8 years now. oh god. I'm averaging a degree every 2.5 years at this point.) I apparently missed a lot. Somewhere in my calc addled brain I was all hung up on Sufjan Stevens and how amazing his album Illinoise was. That's pretty much all I could process at one point.

I think in 2004 I still though Bjork was just a "little too out there" for me musically. What a little music baby I was. Such wasted time.

So it's about time I found DeVotchKa. As an avid Beirut listener, this is completely up my ally. Listening to this song (hear the delightful little keys of the accordion softly clicking away!) pretty much makes me want to give away all my possessions (except my computer. and my camera. let's not get crazy here), put on a twirly skirt, and roam around eastern europe.

My Brightest Diamond

theme song this evening:

My Brightest Diamond, From the Top of the World

Have I mentioned that I love Shara? I desperately want to be her neighbor. I imagine that we would play dress up and tell stories all day long. Hopefully she would sing some. It's taken me forever to buy this album of hers, I have Bring Me the Workhorse, but this one (A Thousand Shark's Teeth) took a little longer for me to get. What took me so long?

Deerhunter

theme song this evening:

Deerhunter, Revival

Oh holy shit. I'm back. Remember how I love music? Remember how I haven't listened to anything new in over 3 months? Remember how I abandoned this blog?

I just remembered. And $50 later, here's my favorite.

Robyn

theme song for all summer:

Robyn ft. Royksopp: None of Dem

You know why I haven't written? Because I'm in fucking Tulsa for the summer, and not feeling particularly musically inspired. It's been a weird summer. While walking along Riverside Drive, this song came on my iPod and I felt inspired to pay attention to this sad little blog again. The lyrics are particularly appropriate for the nonsense that's been happening in Tulsa Land. And how did I not know that one of the skyscrapers (about a block from the building I work in) has a Zeppelin dock on the roof? Seriously? Oh, and that there were horrible race riots here in the 20's? How did I not know this shit. Time to get back on my side of the Mason Dixon.

Metronomy

theme song for the past two days:

Metronomy, Side 2

well this is certainly more entertaining than the break up music.

Sufjan Stevens

theme song for forever, but mostly tonight:

Sufjan Stevens, I Walked

pretty self explanatory really.

The Zombies

theme song for oh, the past couple weeks

The Zombies, The Way I Feel Inside

for the times you can't say what you mean

tUnE-yArDs

theme song yesterday and today:

tUnE-yArDs, Real Live Flesh

brain mush.

TV on the Radio

theme song of the evening:

TV on the Radio, "Dreams"

wow, where the hell have I been? working? slacking off? clearly slacking off from my theme music duties. what a shithead I am. in an effort to make myself post, I had to remind myself what this blog is about. daily music. not weekly, monthly, or bimonthly theme music. god I suck. so here is some make-up music.

remember how awesome this whole (all of theirs really) album was? I also just remembered this evening. Ican'twaitforthenewalbum. 

Cocorosie

theme song lately:

Cocorosie, "Lemonade"

eerie. good music for reflection. like how to best stir up some trouble. or how to grow a lady beard.

Metronomy

theme song this afternoon:

Metronomy, Trick or Treatz

what a fun song! I think the dual bass guitars are really representative of the two edited versions of my thesis that need to be corrected and the duality of my personality- fighting through the edits/fighting to have a good time (not really).

I'm just sort of addicted to these guys right now, and have made it through that stage of being hooked on the same 4 songs to finally branch out and listen to the rest of the album. I'm such a creature of habit. Really, really bad music listening habits according to those "whole album at a time" purists. Bastards.

Liz Janes

theme song of the evening:

Liz Janes, Anchor

wow. so I really needed something like this. super chill. otherwise I was going to get completely stir crazy. I'm at the end of snow day 2/3.... they've already canceled everything for the university tomorrow. and I'm stuck inside my tiny house. bah.

Metronomy

theme song of the afternoon:

Metronomy, "You Could Easily Have Me"

This is a weird song and video. So naturally I love it.

Metronomy

theme song this afternoon:

Metronomy, "The End of You Too"

wow. I feel like I've missed out on years of awesome by not listening to these guys sooner. this is getting me through the home stretch of my Masters. Just listen to minute 2:11, doesn't that sound like some push through to the end theme music? It does to me. I'm workin on it.

Daft Punk

theme song of the afternoon:

Daft Punk, "Touch it/ Technologic"

Sorry for all the Daft Punk these days, I just can't seem to shake it.  Sort of like this cough I've had for a month.  But way better.  After having an interesting run-in with some local radio DJ's I've come to the conclusion that I should become a radio DJ.  I'm not talking Clear Channel either.  While these DJ's work and volunteer for a local station and have their own shows (void of all things Ryan Seacrest), I still found myself more on top of the music game than them.  Odd.....

This only made myself preen my hipster feathers more.

Freelance Whales

theme song of the evening:

Freelance Whales, Generator ^ Second Floor