Feeling good, yet melancholy? Here is the song for you. That is where I am. And here is why…
I went to a class run by my friend about being environmentally friendly, living with less stuff, sustainability, etc. etc. (…more on the content another time…) It was fun, good and invigorating, but yet there is that tinge of hopelessness I could not help but feel once I returned home and realized the issues are huge. Monumental in fact. And they are getting worse, not better, even despite increased awareness. Yes there are things that can be done by individuals such as myself, but it is probably easier to move mountains than it is to change the masses. One rock at a time I guess. One rock at a time.
The one thing I will tell you all is you need to watch “The Story of Stuff” if you haven’t already.
It has been a cold summer so far, but usually about this time of year, when you can roll your windows down all the way and not feel even the slightest chill driving along, I feel compelled to pull out Joni Mitchell’s “Blue”. I suppose summer, like Joni, makes me think I should be slowing down from my busy day to day tasks, and refocusing on the things that are really important in life, like enjoying the smells and sights of summer. It is easier said than done with a “to do” list a mile long, and vacation days still a long way off. However this album will at least provide a breath from that life, at least for a moment. It is like yoga in album form. Good for the soul!
Here are my 5 favorites from the album, with “All I Want” being my favorite.
I downloaded this one from emusic on a whim. It took a while for The Rakes to sink in though, but they finally have. Some bands take a few listens, but eventually the dividends pay off and you question why you didn’t love them the first listen through. That was my experience with “The Strokes” too. By the way, if you like “The Strokes” you should definitely check out “The Rakes”.
Woof! I spent a good chunk of today setting up my blip.fm account with ALL the songs I have posted thus far. Now you’ll be able to just ‘push play’ at “http://blip.fm/msotd” and listen to the songs I’ve posted. It is basically my online radio station because my posting a song or two a day I am essentially a DJ, in slow motion.
Anyone who has paid even a little attention to music influences, especially in electronic, new wave, and post-punk genres over the past almost 40 years has seen Brian Eno’s name A LOT. He is a musician, singer, composer, producer, and musical theorist. He has worked with seemingly countless artists over the years including John Cage, David Bowie, Talking Heads, U2, Coldplay, James, Dido, and Sinéad O’Connor, to name a few. I’m serious. The list is huge.
ALSO “Ambient” music (and all related genres) would possibly not even exist as they do today without him. It was my understanding before reading his wiki page that he is basically the father of ambient music. He is a legend! (I feel like I owe him a favor, a thank you, a fruit basket, …something!)
To top it off, he makes his own music and albums, averaging one about every two years. He has 25 by my count. And that excludes the 5,000,000 collaborative albums he has worked on or produced! (Maybe I should send flowers?)
“This” song impressed me in 2005, though frankly I only have a fraction of the music he himself has made. (Money. I think that’s what he really would appreciate. Nah he’s probably rolling in it by this point!)
Also, a bit of trivia for you, his full name is “Brian Peter George St. John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno”. Crazy huh?
I bought this album by the Scottish band Franz Ferdinand shortly after it first came out. (Yes, they are named after Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria whose assassination eventually led to World War I.)For the past two months I’ve been listening to it constantly and obsessively in the car especially. It is so energetic, fun, and guaranteed to get you singing and dancing. There is a purposefully rough suaveness to the lyrics and music I only wish I could embody.
Some mornings I feel like my “song of the day” is a farce because half the time it seems one of these songs is really the song stuck in my head. I could hold it in no longer. Although this album has not stood up to the test of time (yet) I think it needs to be my Album of the Week and is definitely a Must Own Album.
To quote myself from my post on Ulysses (which is weird I know): “I have been loving the whole album since I bought it the day after it came out (1/27). This is quite possibly the most exciting song (“Ulysses”) and album I’ve heard from 2009 so far. So, unless you have a heart condition (no seriously, there should be a warning on it, it is that good!), stop what you are doing, and turn up the volume and push play!”
I am kicking myself because I missed them on their North American tour. Next time.
Here are my favorites from the album, with “Ulysses” being my favorite:
It was tough to pick the 5… so for this post I decided 7 was the new 5. (My blog. My rules.) The album is too good. Oh and make sure you check out the 2nd part of “Lucid Dreams” (starting at 4:45) where they are electro jamming! It has a nice sharp industrial new wave fusion kind of sound to it. Too cool.
I have several Geneva songs stuck in my head this morning. Who is Geneva? A band from Scotland with catchy tunes, thoughtful lyrics, and a lead singer with a unique voice. They are a band that should have ‘made it’ but their label, “Nude Records”, blew it and the band broke up. For example most American’s probably never heard of the band even though in England they reached the top 20 at one point. Most of the songs on their first album “Further” are of the same caliber so I had trouble deciding which song to post because I also had “Into the Blue” and “Temporary Wings” stuck in my head.
PS: Sadly the sound quality on the video is a bit low, but it was the only stream with the full song I could find. Enjoy!
PPS: The album is for sale used on Amazon for as low as $0.01 at the moment. If I didn’t already own it, I’d be buying it.
I’ve been posting individual songs, but most of the time, I am an album listener. I have decided I need to communicate my love for certain albums to the world. As the owner of albums by over 700 artists, I’ve decided I could easily post one album a week for the next year or two and not run out of albums that everyone should listen to, and perhaps even own. In my mind any album with at least 5 solid songs meets this criteria, and I will be happy to tell you which albums are deserving from my point of view.
This first one I am posting about, “OK Computer” by Radiohead, I still speak of as the crown jewel of awesome solid albums. When this album came out I was blown away and I listen to it today 12 years later and it is still a knockout. It is SO good, I think Radiohead has been working hard to create a set of songs as solid and unable to surpass this masterpiece. The first 6 songs alone would qualify this album as one of the best ever I think.
When released it was viewed as experimental musically, politically, …perhaps even spiritually. They clearly paved the way for bands like Coldplay and Muse. I am frequently disappointed in those who do not appreciate Radiohead OR even those who are fans but do not see this album as an apex in its day, a change in the wind of music at that time. I feel like they are missing out. Alas. *sigh*
Following with my 5 solid song criteria, here are my 5 favorites from the album, with “Paranoid Android” probably being my favorite. It is like 3 songs in one.
The rest are also solid songs, and “No Surprises” was a single. “Lucky” also hit the charts. Really if you like the songs above, just get it. It is best if listened to in order because I believe to this day they arranged order of the songs perfectly so one after another they’d either feed into or contrast ‘just right’.
I said it when this was my song of the day on 3/9 and it is still true today… This song is HOT!
In fact I have been loving the whole album since I bought it the day after it came out (1/27). This is quite possibly the most exciting song and album I’ve heard from 2009 so far. So, unless you have a heart condition (no seriously, there should be a warning on it, it is that good!), stop what you are doing, and turn up the volume and push play!
As I recall, this was my song of the day on 3/17 because I had watched “Say Anything” the night before and felt like channeling Lloyd Dobler played by John Cusack. I want to have his attitude. I think I’d be happier. To quote him in the movie “I don’t want to sell anything, buy anything, or process anything as a career. I don’t want to sell anything bought or processed, or buy anything sold or processed, or process anything sold, bought, or processed, or repair anything sold, bought, or processed. You know, as a career, I don’t want to do that.”
Unfortunately I do a lot of that. I lack an exit strategy too. Any ideas?
Listen on Blip.fm!