My First Earthquake and Bob Dylan

So on this past week's Contrast Podcast, we had our ninth Musicians Introduce Their Own Songs episode (you can find them grouped together here) which had a band on it called My First Earthquake, based in San Francisco. First of all, the intro cracked me up. Rebecca, the singer comes on with this robot voice and, well I'm not going to make it sound cool enough. Go listen to it yourself! They just seemed like such a fun-loving group of people, based on a 30 second intro (some intro times claimed in this blog may not be completely accurate or double-checked at all) and so I was very pleased when their song "Teleprompt" was really catchy and had an interesting story. So I went on their website and looked around and they ARE a really, fun, fun-loving group of people. Maybe that's just the San Franciscan air (isn't Greer from SF? She's a fun-loving gal, am I right?)

Anywho, here's a couple of tunes that I've been digging by them! And all of these are available at places like iTunes except the remix, which I believe is only available through their website.

My First Earthquake - Teleprompt from Tremors EP (the song that started the craze)
My First Earthquake - Teleprompt (Poles & Zeros Remix) (for maximum contrast)
My First Earthquake - Cradle the Ladle from Tremors EP (It's about soup. Mmm mmm good!)


Also, Bob Dylan is going to be releasing another CD in the Bootleg Series. It's going to cover the period of time between Oh Mercy! and Modern Times (aka the present). And I'm pretty excited! So his website was giving away this free song which is an released song that he recorded when he was recording Time Out of Mind. I think it's pretty clear why it wasn't included on the album. It's just too damn upbeat!

Bob Dylan - Dreamin' of You

Happy Labor Day everyone! And I'll try to update more often! That seems to be something of an epidemic 'round the blogs I've been reading. I think school's starting for a bunch of people and people are maybe trying to get in some hardcore relaxation in during these last days of summer.

I'm excited about autumn! I can't wait until all the music geeks that I love to read hunker down for the winter and pontificate on all my future favorite songs!

Shout outs and 1988!

Ok, so I often assign myself epic projects. I've assigned myself the task of listening to, watching, and reading all of the Albums of the Year, Best Pictures, and Pultizer Prize for Fiction winners, respectively from the year I was born on, for instance.

Well the most recent epic project I've assigned myself is to collect all of the songs that have reached Number One on Billboard's Hot Modern Rock Tracks Chart. When I started, I had about half, and I'm well on my way, through the use of iTunes and friends and family.

But the Internet is a wonderful wonderful place where you can, with a little effort, find almost anything. I couldn't find a particular song (posted below) on iTunes and I didn't know anyone that would have it. So I went on The Hype Machine and searched the track and I saw a blog that I've seen many places before on various blogs I read: The Vinyl District. Not only is this a fantastic blog where the merits and wonders of Vinyl Music are shouted from the rooftops, but they also happen to be based out of Washington D.C., a short drive from where I live! Please check them out. You won't be disappointed! So, I'd like to whole-heartedly thank Jon from The Vinyl District for his generous and speedy aid in my randomly assigned, all-consuming, epic project! There may be other songs that I just can't find. And you can bet that I'll be scouring the Internet to find them. In fact, does anyone have "Dirty Blvd." by Lou Reed? iTunes only has live versions.

Julian Cope - Charlotte Anne from My Nation Underground (It's from 1988. That's why the title.)

Passenger + Ruut in Annapolis with Andy! (8/3/08)

Ok, so while you are all losing sleep trying to decide which votes to cast on the current round of the BOTB (see previous post's first section), I'll tell you a little story.

Last night, Andy and I went to Annapolis, where I lived when I was in 5th and 6th grades. We were going there to see a band called Passenger. Passenger are from the UK. Andy tells me that they're from Brighton and after a little confusion involving a perceived mispronunciation of the word "Britain", I understand that he means a specific place in the UK. But everyone isn't from Brighton, because the lead singer said the lead guitarist is Irish. Which I suppose doesn't mean he isn't from Brighton. And I'm rambling.


So anyways, after almost making it to the club and finding that the very street we're looking for is blocked off for some reason, and then realizing that two pre-driving years of residence don't make for a very good mental layout of a town, we found parking and made our way to the Ram's Head Tavern. This place is far bigger than it looks and it has lots and lots of routes to get from point A to point B. Only our point B seems to not be there. What we didn't realize is that the Tavern had a seperate part of it that was a stage area. So then we waited around for the doors to open. Andy was on the list. It was so cool. Except for the ticket guy immediately said "Um, there is no guest list." After talking to the aforementioned Irish/Brightish lead guitar player and Passenger's manager, we were in and sitting. I had a Diet Coke and Andy had a Yuengling. Is this too detailed? (We were at table 304.)



The first act was Ruut, a local. She played piano and was backed by cello and electric guitar. She was absolutely gorgeous and then she started singing and it didn't even matter. She has, in my opinion, a very distinct voice and the band's sound had sort of a soulful country folky sound. You know that Ben Folds Five song "Lullaby"?

Ben Folds Five - Lullaby from The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner

You do? Ok, so I kept thinking of that during their set. It was absolutely breathtaking and I bought the ep, which you can also purchase at iTunes, and she signed it for me and I was all flustered and speechless like I always am in the presence of great talent.


Here are two songs that they played that I really loved

Ruut - Nothing is Right from Ruut EP
Ruut - Sweetest Thing from Ruut EP

And then Passenger came on. Andy gives a really great description of the show (with a lot less rambling) here. When they were playing, I felt like I was a part of the beginning of something. Whenever I'm reading people's blogs and they're like "Yeah, I was at the first Smiths show" (I think that was JC, but I could be mistaken. Maybe Dirk? Same difference, really ;-)), I'm always envious and want to know what that feels like. And I really felt like that last night. Passenger are so passionate about what they do and Mike (lead singer) has a great voice. They played songs I knew of their album Wicked Man's Rest which Andy gave me for Christmas. The US version is in stores tomorrow. You can get it at amazon. And they also played other songs that were just fantastic. I think my favorite was The Stupidest Song which Mike played as an encore. Despite the name, it's freakin' brilliant.
Here were two highlights:


Passenger - Walk You Home aka Night Vision Binoculars (UK title changed for US release) from Wicked Man's Rest
Passenger - Stray Dog from Wicked Man's Rest

It was a great night.

A More Creative Title Perhaps? (More Voting, Random Thoughts, Mixes)

Perhaps not.

I've reached another point in my blogging where I am a bit behind and so I have all these things that I want to talk about and they're just overloading me and then I don't blog so they build up more and more and more. So I'm going to attempt to get them all down. Or at least most of them.

Round 1F!!!

1.The Beatles vs. Taking Back Sunday

The Beatles - I've Got a Feeling from Let It Be

Taking Back Sunday - Spin from Louder Now

2. Lagwagon vs. The Ataris

Lagwagon - Automatic from Resolve
The Ataris - Not Capable of Love from Welcome the Night


In other news, I've been making and receiving lots of mixes from all over the world. I guess this salvo began with Andy coming up for a visit bearing the latest installment in a series of mixes we've been doing for a year or so.
Here's a song from that:
The Decemberists - Oceanside
I also received a mix from Wayne as part of Anna's Mix CD exchange. The theme this time was "Sub 3-minute songs" and Wayne's mix was eclectic and yet it fit together like a jigsaw puzzle.

Here's a song from that:

The Housemartins - Happy Hour

and here's a song that quotes that song and I never knew it!

Barenaked Ladies - Hello City from Gordon


And then I received not one, but TWO mixes from Anna which are both based on Lost (one a little more than the other) which is just amazing and it made me want to skip out on work and just go home and watch Lost DVD's

A song for waking up in the hatch. :)
Mama Cass Elliot - Make Your Own Kind of Music

Oh, also, I got a USB record player and have, so far, ripped two LP's and I'm fairly pleased. The second album, Sly and the Family Stone's Fresh was rather frustrating because it has all these little hops in it that I didn't notice when it was recording (because I was in the other room...)

But here's a song that isn't bad.

Sly and the Family Stone - In Time from Fresh


And finally, you should go check out The Hold Steady and My Morning Jacket's new albums:

The Hold Steady - Ask Her For Adderall from Stay Positive
My Morning Jacket - Aluminum Park from Evil Urges

Title of Entry (7/13/08) [Points For Creativity]

Hi!

So, I see that maybe some of you (read: a LOT of you!!!) have been voting! Thank you to each and every one of you for your votes! Keep them coming. We're past the halfway mark of Round 1 and that's certainly the longest round. Speaking of voting, how about...

Round 1e!!!

1.Bob Dylan vs. New Found Glory

Bob Dylan - Rollin' and Tumblin' from Modern Times
New Found Glory - Crazy For You from From the Screen to Your Stereo Part II

2.Death Cab For Cutie vs. Ben Folds

Death Cab For Cutie - You Can Do Better Than Me from Narrow Stairs
Ben Folds - Landed from Songs For Silverman

Happy Voting!

also, how about a nice shot of...

CP B-sides!!

This week was Monkeys and Apes. And it was a good time. Was it me, or was this episode especially wild?!

I submitted:

Traveling Wilburys - Tweeter and the Monkey Man from Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1

and I selected that fairly quickly. I also considered "Monkey Man", but Dirk submitted a version of that song so I didn't miss out on hearing that. I also considered submitting:

Counting Crows - Monkey from Recovering the Satellites

which I've heard is about Courtney Cox (not that he's saying she looks like a monkey, but I think that that was his pet name for her....maybe because he thought she looked like a monkey?)

Quick Side Note: In the blogs that I read, spouses are referred to in adorable ways. Nat calls her hubby Mr. Nat, Dirk calls his wife Mrs. Loser. But I think I'm just going to refer to my wife by her first initial, K. I think Mrs. Appetite isn't very flattering and Mrs. Distraction sounds like a super-villain, which I'm pretty sure K is not. But then again...where did we get all those bags with dollar signs on them?

Anywho, K and I went to go see Get Smart today and I was impressed. I really felt like it pretty much captured the feeling of the original but still seemed fresh and had me laughing really hard. It had all the gags that I would hope to see including probably my favorite thing from the series: the Cone of Silence. Great stuff.

We went down to Harrisonburg yesterday for a day full of reliving our lives in college and K's year of grad school. It's getting so developed and it's really weird to come back to a place after only a couple of years and see that it hasn't been patiently waiting unchanged in a state of suspended animation. We ate at a couple of our old haunts and paid a visit to the Green Valley Book Fair, which, if you're anywhere near the Shenandoah Valley, you should see when it's open (it closed today for about a month or so.)

And that was the beginning of the birthday celebrations for yours truly. I'm turning 25 on Wednesday and I'm feeling chill about it. Not getting any anxiety about the passage of time or the inevitability of aging. Just keeping it real. :) What does that mean, come to think of it? Can you keep anything in this life in any state other than real?

Alright, I've descended into the pit of questioning figures of speech. That means it's time for bed.

Goodnight everyone. Have fantastic weeks/days/hours!

CP B-sides, Voting Reminder, An Ear-catching Song

...But not in that order necessarily.

First, I just wanted everyone to scroll down two entries and vote for in the Battle of the Bands. There's a tie right now and I'd really like to resolve it before moving on. So come on. Vote!

One of my favorite things about having my iPod on shuffle while i'm at work all day is having a song catch my ear and make me stop what i'm doing to listen. At first, I thought this song (which has "Colin" written all over it. So I assume I got it from him. Possibly in the 2007 wrap-up mix?) was a Christmas song, but it's not. It's just that first little bit that sounds like "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)." And then it's just so catchy and the climax comes and it just sends tingles up and down my spine. And I love the Scottish accent (another reason I'm thinking Colin). The version I have says it's a "Home Tapes" version. Does anyone know how much the version that was released this year differs?

Glasvegas - It's My Own Cheating Heart That Makes Me Cry (Home Tapes Version)

Finally, another episode of CP B-Sides!!!

This week on the Contrast Podcast, the theme was Hot! Hot! Hot! and when I submitted my song two weeks ago, we were in the middle of a heat wave, so, without hesitation, I submitted:

Squirrel Nut Zippers - Hell from Hot

but I briefly considered submitting:

Sly & the Family Stone - Hot Fun in the Summertime from Greatest Hits

which I just love and which gives me nostalgia for an era (The 70's) which I never lived but love nonetheless.

So that's it! Happy 4th of July everyone!

Would have sucked without you here...

Ok, first, I still am taking votes for the latest round of Battle of the Bands (see the previous post).

But more importantly, I want to put some songs out here to help you out. This is kind of going out to someone, but it's also going out to you, if you need it. When I was a freshman in college, I needed this song. I found it shortly after I stopped needing it, but it still made me feel good to know it was there. It's a song for a very specific feeling and I'm not sure who's having this feeling, but I want to put it out there. It's about getting over someone and realizing that they're missing out on you. It doesn't matter if this is a romantic relationship or just a friendship or a job or whatever. If you need to replace the word "she" in the song with "they" or "he", then by all means, please do.

Less Than Jake - Great American Sharpshooter from Hello Rockview

Another song (which contains the title of this post) was written by one of my best friends. He was the Best Man at my wedding. And he gave me the song above. Well, he pointed me to the album. This is an amazing song based on a simple fact. Everyone has a song called "Everything Sucks." This one should be a mood brightener too.

Murphys Kids - Everything Sucks from Don't Wait

and if you're not feeling like having a brighter mood, here are two "Everything Sucks"'s that aren't so smiley. :)

Descendents - Everything Sucks from Everything Sucks
Reel Big Fish - Everything Sucks from Turn the Radio Off

Well, maybe that RBF song is a little smiley and who can't smile at the sheer sarcasm that Milo spews in every Descendents song?