More Music (Cake)

I like Cake. My favorite is German chocolate but I also like the band Cake as well. I do not have a lot to say about them. How about we just let the music do the talking.

I have felt like he feels in this song. Lots and lots of times in my life. It never gets any less painful to hear and seems to be the perpetual problem of the nice guy. But I do have lot of friends that are girls. :)



I just get a kick out of this song. I love the country sound and I totally get what he is saying about liking bench seats better then bucket seats and a stick shift. "Stickshifts and Safetybelts"





I like ladies who wear a "Short Skirt Long Jacket" But I prefer a short skirt and a nice sweater. :)



Why does everybody think that "Sheep Go To Heaven" and Goats Go To Hell.




I have felt like this as well.

More Music Bonus Post

So I literally tumbld across this girl today. The song is so amazing to me that I had to post it on here in the hopes that more people get to hear it.

The song is called "Empty Space" and her name is Haley Freedlund. I hope she has great musical success in the future. She is very talented.

More Music ( The Brian Setzer Orchestra)

Most people who know me in real life are well aware of my love of reggae and ska and epic heavy metal. But I also have a soft spot in my musical heart for swing music. It is so danceable and really just fun. It is just plain fun music.

This album by Brian Setzer formally of The Stray Cats is just a well made, well played, super fun good time, shake it baby, shake it album. The Dirty Boogie is one of the best of the modern swing albums and I believe really helped to generate the swing resurgence that we experienced in the 1990's. That was a fun time and I really enjoyed going to different swing clubs in the Portland area and dancing.

Lets get to the music so you folks can do some dancing as well.

This is a live performance of the title track from this album. "The Dirty Boogie"



"Switchblade 327" live at Woodstock in 1999. One thing that I really like about this style of music is that often the band members are really talented musicians.



That is all you are getting because frankly I am more interested in listening to the Decemberists collection that I have finally filled out.

More Music (Boston)

Well, well, well we have finally hit some classic 70's rock and roll. I own one album from Boston and it is their first album the self titled Boston. A little bit of trivia for you. This album is called by some the best selling debut album of all time. Some others say it is second best to Guns N' Roses, Appetite for Destruction and still others say that Alanis Morrisette Jagged Little Pill is tied with Boston with 16 million copies sold. It is interesting to note that though the album never reached number 1 on the Billboard charts it peaked at 3 and was on the charts for an amazing 132 weeks. That is almost three years!! Pretty crazy.

I am not sure who to believe and I know that they still count album sales so who knows what numbers are correct. The one thing that is correct is that like them or not the band sold an amazing number of copies for a debut album. I also am unashamed to say that I actually really enjoy listening to it. But I also admittedly have a soft spot for this kind of music from this era.

I really could give you all eight songs off of this album. I am going to start with number 1 and we will see if I feel like just giving you the full Boston experience.

"More Than a Feeling"



I think I am just going to go with every other. So here is number 3.

"Foreplay/Long Time"



Here is the fifth song. Are you feeling the rock fill you!!

"Smokin"



And finally a double jump to the last song on the album.

"Let Me Take You Home Tonight"



There you go. I can't wait until I get to Styx. They also carried the torch of music for this era.

More Music (Bonnie "Prince" Billy/Matt Sweeney)

The album is called Superwolf and was created by Bonnie "Prince" Billy (Will Oldham) and Matt Sweeney. Now if you follow any of the newish music at all and have a drop of hipster blood in your body then you will recognize the name Will Oldham.

Also not to get to tied up into the whole who came first argument. I would say without Will Oldham there may not have been Bon Iver or Iron & Wine or Mumford and Sons and a myriad of other bands that all basically use the same acoustic guitar and plaintive and painful harmonic vocals. A style of music which I love dearly and I find it totally accessible and listenable. If you do not like it then you know what you can do.

There are 11 songs on this album and it comes in at a tidy 43 minutes. It is well worth your time to listen to. If you can't track it down. Well come on. It isn't hard. Do it. Just get yourself a copy. Trust me.

"Bed Is for Sleeping"



"Beast For Thee"



"Rudy Foolish"



And finally "I Gave You". This is a sad, sad, beautiful song and one that I love dearly.

More Music (Bon Iver)

I really am unable to say enough about this band. I feel like the first album For Emma, Forever Ago was just an amazing solo work by Justin Vernon. But when it came time to tour he realized that he needed more voices for the vocal harmonies he brought in some other artists Michael Noyce, Sean Carey and Mathew McCaughan. For Emma was released independently in July of 2007 and is just amazing and the second titled simply Bon Iver is amazing as well.

The biggest difference between the two albums is that the second one was recorded with a full band as opposed to the first where Justin did all of the work and then joined them together via studio magic. Both are incredible and you should really do yourself a favor and track them down and give them a listen. To be sure, there is a certain melancholy sadness to his voice and his lyrics but it is so much more them music for the depressive inside all of us.

This is the first song off of For Emma it is called "Flume". It is really a lovely song.



This next song is also off of the first album the sixth track called "Creature Fear"



This is off of the latest album and it called "Holoscene". It is just a beautiful song.



This one is called "Blood Bank". It is from an EP of the same name. Enjoy it.



There you go folks.

More Music (Bob Marley & The Wailers)

I really am enjoying this process because it is letting me show all of you the different types of music I am into. I am excited about today because we get to listen to Bob Marley. I think most of my regular readers know that I am into ska pretty heavily. But I do not know if I have ever really addressed my love of reggae as well. I own more Jimmy Cliff then Bob Marley but I am working to remedy that.

What we are sampling today is Marley's greatest hits album Legend. I am actually remiss in that it is Bob Marley & The Wailers. So let me apologize for not mentioning that sooner.

I just love the quote in the picture. Because I think it is totally true, even when a song makes me feel sad, the song also is taking me to a different place and the sadness just isn't a painful sadness. It is a memory or a reminder of multiple things and while sadness might be part of it, pain is not.

Well, lets get to the music. "Get Up Stand Up". This is an amazing song and this clip is from a live show in Germany. This song is almost funk as well as reggae I love it.



"Three Little Birds" is a great song. I have nothing more to say.



"Exodus". This is another live one. So good and so amazing. I recommend that you just lean back and let the music wash over you. Don't fight it. Just give into it.



I may have to give this group another post as I fill out my library. I hope you enjoyed the musical escape today.

More Music (Blues Traveler)

Well this is kind of fun. Blues Traveler was a band that really caught my interest and I used to listen to their album FOUR all of the time. But I haven't listened to it for quite a while so I am really enjoying revisiting it.

The band formed in 1987 and is a real mix of different styles and sounds and they are led by singer and harmonicist (I made that word up) John Popper. They have put out 9 studio albums since 1990 with their fourth album FOUR being easily the one with the most mainstream success. It was made platinum 6 times which is a nice feat for any band. I am sure there are some really amazing songs deep in their catalog but I am limited to what I own. So here are a few songs from the one album I own. If you enjoy it then please check them out.

I really think that "Run-Around" is a great song. The video is kind of lame actually but the song pretty awesome. I do have to admit that I kind of enjoy the band behind the curtain aspect of the video. They were not a video friendly band. Not pretty enough.



Crash Burn is a fun song and this is a taste of the the band live. I love John Popper on the harmonica.




"Brother John" kind of reminds me of the Allman Brothers and "Whipping Post". It is a great jam.

More Music (Blink 182)

So onward down the list we go. We are going to take a break from our regularly scheduled metal and visit the world of pop punk. It is not a world that I am musically a super big fan of. Though at one time I really did like this band. That was up until I saw them in concert and I realized that other then the drummer, who is amazing by the way, they just can't play. There were so many thing onstage to distract from how bad they were live that it really was a disappointing concert and believe me. I have been to some disappointing concerts.

I have three of their albums, Dude Ranch from 1997, Enema of the State, from 1999, and Take off Your Pants and Jacket from 2001. You can tell from the titles of the last two albums that their sense of humor leans toward the infantile. Which is fine. I think that there is a time and a place for that but if that is the only sense of humor you ever show then you really do need to grow up just a little bit.

Since I have three of their albums and right now I just do now care for Blink you are going to get one song from each album. Wait change of plans. I will play one song from the album and then one song live and you will see just how bad they are live. In my opinion.

So here we go. The first song is "Dammit" from Dude Ranch. There is a different drummer on this album. I do not know. Nor do I care what happened to him.



Here is the live version. There is a swear in this one. The F_ _ _ word.



This next song is from Enema of the State and is "All The Small Things" which reached number 6 on the Billboard hot 100 and was their highest charting song ever. I will grant you that the video does a good job of spoofing MTV and boy bands. But it just shows that they are a studio band not a real band.



Here is the live version at the MTV awards take a look at all the distractions from the actual music.



Okay here is my last album Take Off Your Pants and Jacket. This is one of the few albums in my collection I regret buying. Though I actually like "Stay Together For The Kids" it is a pretty good song about how much divorce destroys a family and hurts the kids.



Here is the live version from the 2010 Reading Festival so 9 years after the song was first released. ugh so bad



That was so bad. Now let me see if I can find you an example of how good of a drummer Travis Barker is and how hiring him was the best choice the band ever made. Here he is just warming up and practicing. If you appreciate the drums you will appreciate this.

More Music (Black Sabbath)

In 1970 an album was released that shook the very earth. This album changed the face of music and I think was probably what started Heavy Metal. Sure, other bands rocked hard in the late 60's and through the 70's but no band rocked as hard as Black Sabbath.

As a teenager I was only aware of Ozzy Osbourne as a solo act and being a young man raised within the Protestant church it often seemed to me that Ozzy was the very devil that I had been so often warned about. Of course it didn't help matters when his solo albums looked like this.

That album came out in 1980 and I was pretty much scared to death of it. I had not yet really began to like music like I do now. Do not get my wrong. I enjoyed it but I went to a private christian school for most of grade school and my parents car had an AM radio so all I really listened to was the local 50's station. So I did not have a real understanding of rock music and what started with the 50's then shifted into the 60's with the Door's and Jimmy Hendrix and the Who but I still never listened to or had even heard of Black Sabbath. At some point in the late 90's I stumbled across a remix of the Sabbath Classic "After Forever". I believe it was on a film soundtrack. After listening to it a few times I started to realize that the lyrics did not seem to be in praise of Satan at all.

Being an inquisitive young man I decided to check out the original version of the song and I was really surprised by both the music and the lyrics. It is also interesting to note that the song just before "After Forever" is "Sweet Leaf" a song all about how good marijuana is. So really all of that is to say that Black Sabbath was a far more complex band then the Christian Anti-Rock Media really realized.

Enough of my theorizing. On to the music. I am going to throw up some stuff when Ozzy was in Sabbath and then I will put up some stuff from when Ozzy was kicked out and Ronnie James Dio joined the band. I prefer the Ozzy years better but there is some good stuff from when Dio was there.

So without further adieu I bring you track 2 off of their first album "The Wizard". They get extra special bonus points for use of the rockin harmonica. I also really love the drums in this track and the secret cowbell.



Their second album was called Paranoid and I bring you the 8th track "Fairies Wear Boots". Another song that just has an amazing drum and bass line with some tasty guitar licks and the lyrics just make me laugh. I love it. 6:30 of awesome.



Their third album, Master of Reality, was also an epic one and I think my favorite off of it is the one I mentioned earlier "After Forever".



I really think that the first three Black Sabbath albums are the best ones. But they did have a few good songs here and there after those their fourth album was called Black Sabbath Vol 4. One of the songs is called "Supernaut". Want to hear it? Here it is.



Actually I am going to stop there. Ronnie James Dio can get his own post when I get to him. Black Sabbath was and always will be Ozzy's band. No offense to Dio fans out there because I own some Dio and I like his work but I like his solo stuff. Frankly, I think his work with Black Sabbath was not that good.

So there you go. A little bit of heavy metal for you.

Tomorrow we are moving away from the metal and more into pop punk.

More Music (The Black Keys)

This band...I just am unable to recommend highly enough. The Black Keys. They are an American band and are really a blues based rock and roll duo. The singers named Dan Auerbach and the drummer is Patrick Carney and their first album came out in 2001 in total right now they have 6 studio releases and several Extended Plays (EP) and a couple of live albums as well. There is a seventh album in the works but that has not been released yet.

In the spirit of true honesty. I must admit that while I have all their albums I came a little late to the party and it pains me to admit that I have not been following them since their inception. That only really pains me because it makes the hipster inside me sad. I am surprised that I didn't discover them earlier because I love this kind of music. It is because I love this kind of music I am going to try to find a something from every album so hold onto your hats folks today is going to be a long post.

The comes off their first album The Big Come up (2002) some of these are covers and this album was recorded in one of their basements on a 8 track tape recorder that was from the early eighties . But it still sounds awesome, This song is called "I'll Be Your Man"



The second album had some reals gems. But my favorite is a cover of the classic 1959 song by Richard Berry called "Have Love, Will Travel". This song has been covered by lots of artists but I prefer the Black Keys version the best.



Their third album called Rubber Factory is another solid outing. This song "Act Nice and Be Gentle" sounds like it could a lost Zepplin song at the beginning but it is actually a cover of a Kinks song.



This song off of their fourth album Dig is one that I also like muchly. The video is kind of fun as well. The song is called "Your Touch.



Their fifth album is called Chulahoma and really you might be better off calling this an EP. It has 7 tracks on it and the 7th is a hidden one. This is a tribute album and is a collection of covers of bluesman Junior Kimbrough. But much like the first four I find it very listenable when I am in the mood for this kind of kick ass rock and roll. Though in the interest of brevity I am going to jump past this one to the final two albums that I have.

In 2008 we saw the Black Keys signing with a new label and releasing Attack and Release. I think my favorite of off this album is "I Got Mine" which was listed as number 23 on Rolling Stone's list of the 100 best songs of 2008. But there are quite a few good songs on this album and I am torn between playing you that one or digging a little deeper into the album. hmmmm ahhh screw it. Here is the last song on the album "Things Ain't Like They Used to Be"



The Black Key's latest album "Brothers" came out in 2010 and you can really here a change in their sound. It is still the same duo and you can tell that they really work well together. I like this album a lot. I know that isn't a big surprise but I really do like all of their music. I think some songs may be weaker then others but overall everything is very listenable to me. There are 15 songs on this album and I can think of three off of the top of my head that I feel are post worthy and I am sure that there will be more as I keep listening. I am going to go with "Howlin' for You" I really like this number.



As I listened to the Black Keys today while I was putting together this post. I realized that this is an interesting band. I think that there are times where their music all kind of sounds the same. But at least as far as I am concerned the sound is so good that it doesn't matter to me and when they really catch a good one that particular song is amazing. I am really looking forward to their next album.

More Music (Black Grape)

Well this is an interesting band. The band was called Black Grape and the album is called It's Great When You're Straight... Yeah and was released in 1995 and promptly went to number 1 on the UK charts. The title of the album is a reference to drug use because one of the founding members, Shaun Ryder, had just had a band called Happy Mondays fall apart basically due to his drug addictions.

I honestly can't remember how I discovered them. I enjoy them but their sound is really a quirky one and not for everybody. While they received critical and some commercial acclaim in the UK they were pretty much ignored in the US. They released a second album in 1997 called Stupid Stupid Stupid which went to 11 in the UK but they broke up after that.

This is their first single which went to number 9 in the UK. "Reverend Black Grape".




The second single which I actually enjoy a lot is called "In the Name of the Father" which went to number 11.



This last one is called "Kelly's Heroes" and only made it to number 17 on the charts. I do enjoy the way the lyrics flow in it.



I have been enjoying going through my collection and I like coming across artists that I do not listen too as much as I did in the past. I always have felt that my musical taste was pretty eclectic and now I have confirmed it. I am sure as I get further down the list there will be even more surprises.

Late Night Musings

Well here I sit, it is almost 2:30 am, and I have just woken up. I am not sure what did it. I believe that I fell asleep around midnight and all of a sudden my eyes popped open and here I am. I did try to go back to sleep but I had no such luck. I am not sure what is going on with my sleep cycle. I do know that being unemployed for as long as I have been has for sure affected it. Because you see I have no real reason to wake up in the morning. .... Umm as I look at that I realize that it sounds a little morbid. I mean I have no reason to wake up at a set time or to not stay up all night if I want to.

I am not feeling particularly upset this morning. I would even go so far as to say that on an emotional level it was a particularly good day for a myriad of reasons. Not the least of which was an email I received that made things a little less murky for me. This was the first song that popped up on my random as I turned on my music.


I think I can safely say that more and more Iron & Wine are becoming one of my favorite bands. Their is just something about the smoothness of his voice that I really, really enjoy.




I hope you enjoyed listening to that as much as I did presenting it to you.

I added some new elements to my blog. There is a box you can click to tell me if you thought the band I was highlighting was Good or Bad of if you were indifferent to it. I also added a way for you to share my blog posts to Facebook or Google+ or other things if you feel so inclined. Thanks for reading folks.

More Music (Black Eyed Peas)

Well, well, well this is an album that I am not sure why I even still own it. The album is Elephunk by Black Eyed Peas. This is their 4th album and I think the one that kind of put them on the map so to speak. It is very radio friendly and even as I listen to it again with some trepidation it is listenable but this is not my favorite kind of music at all.

If I want to listen to this style I would much rather listen to Gwen Stefani's solo album. I think that is a much better example of this kind of music. But here you go with some videos.

This one kind of stands out because of the title and on radio the song got changed to "Lets get started" But this version is "Lets Get Retarded".



This one is called "Hey Mama" and is a fine example of basically reggae hip hop and I am sure that I am not calling it the right name at all. But Rhianna has a song that sounds like this and Flight of the Conchords has a song that sounds like this and I actually really enjoy.



Here we are Flight of the Conchords and "Boom". Now this song I much prefer.



So anyway. There you go folks. Have a nice Monday.

Friday Night

Sometimes it is just not possible to sleep. I feel like I should be laying down. But I know it is going to be pointless. I know that I will just toss and turn and so instead I sit here in front of my computer listening to Bon Iver and Iron & Wine and feel sad.

I am sure that Grandma's death and the divorce and one other thing are the main reasons why. But the aftermath of those events have spiraled off into other things in my life that are making me sad as well. I have never been one to make big plans for the future. I never really saw the point in that. I have always felt like things would basically work out one way or the other. But now I am just not sure. I do not see anyway that things are going to work out.

I would love it if I saw some sort of inspiration but I just don't. I am heavily in debt and I do not see a job on the horizon or if I find a job I do not see it being a job that is going to actually allow me to pay off my debt.

I am not writing this as some sort of call for help. I process things verbally and I feel like I need to get some stuff out. Not that it is going to make any difference in the big picture of things but at least I will momentarily feel better because I was able to release some of this. I rarely post on the weekends anyway so I do not know who will read this anyway.

I guess I am feeling extra sad and emotional tonight.



The thing that is most upsetting to me is that I should not be so upset about this. It shouldn't matter and any of my friends would tell me I am being silly. I have been telling myself that I am being silly. But it doesn't seem to matter. I had a good solid month where I was not feeling alone and now I am back to feeling alone. It is hard for me to be as honest as I want to be in this forum because I feel like I need to be purposely vague about things.

But I also feel like if I just write this down but no one reads it then it isn't really going to be helping me anyway. With this process while I do not know who is going to read it. I at least know there is a chance of it being read by somebody. I am not sure why that matters to me but it does.

More Music (Billy Joel)

So as we move further into the B's we come across another famous piano man. The artist known as Billy Joel. He was born in 1949 and joined his first band The Echoes in 1963. But he did not achieve real success until he signed a solo recording contract in 1971 and put out his first album "Cold Spring Harbor". As of 2011 he has put out 13 studio albums with the last one coming in 2001 called "Fantasies and Delusions". He has released 4 live albums with the last one coming out in 2011 called "Live at Shea Stadium: The Concert". But that isn't all there have also been 12 compilation albums released. I think that even if you do not care for him. That is a pretty impressive amount of releases. When I was younger I owned "An Innocent Man" on vinyl but now the only thing I own is "The Complete Hits Collection 1973-1997" which is a three disc compilation. I think I am going to highlight 2 songs from each of the discs. That is if Youtube allows me to. So cross your fingers folks and lets get started.

Here is a live version of "Captain Jack" from 1972. This has fast become one of my favorite early Billy Joel songs.



This is a live version of "Movin' Out (Anthony's Song)". It gets bonus points because of the sweet live sax. Play it Sax man. Play it groovy!!



Okay the next two are going to be from the second disc and that disc tends to concentrate more on his stuff from the 80's. I think "Innocent Man" was his best selling album but I could be wrong so no quoting.

I do love that I can find live versions of these songs. This is a live version of "Allentown". It really is a good song and says a lot about how the recession in the 80's affected the steel industry in Pennsylvania.



This won't be a live version. But "Tell Her About It" came out in 1983 and I can remember listening to this over and over again as I tried to pump myself up to ask a girl I liked out. Well...it didn't work and I locked up and mumbled. But the video is pretty fun and really from an era when videos were king.



Okay so on to the third disc and this era of Billy Joel is not one that I am all that familiar with but there are some good songs on it.

Here is a live version from 2006 of "We didn't start the fire". This was a pretty big song for him.



This next song is "The Downeaster Alexa" which was just put to great use in the film The Hangover II. It is really one of my favorite of his songs. I could find no good live versions of this one so you get the original video from 1989. It is just a great, great song.



Thanks for reading and listening folks and I hope you have a good weekend. I will see you on Monday as we continue to work our way through the B's.

More Music (Bill Monroe)

Quick and dirty today. The artist is Bill Monroe and he is the father of Bluegrass and he is also one of the few members of the Country Music Hall of Fame, and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. As well as the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame.

The only other artists inducted into all three of those are Jimmie Rodgers, Bob Wills, Hank Williams Sr, and Johnny Cash. So he is amongst some pretty good company.

Onto the music. I would break this down a little more in depth but I have 82 of his songs in my library totaling 3.9 hours of music. So this is what you are getting.

A lot of what I like about his work is that it often was just unabashedly religious. It was part of who he was and it came out in the music he played. This was before modern radio came along and decided that everything had to fit into a category. Modern radio gets a big lose in my book. What is saving modern music is the MP3 and the ability for people all over the world to use the internet to find any kind of music that they want to.

More Music (Big & Rich)

So, there was a time in America in the mid 2000s when a relative new type of country music rose to prominence and for some reason. I am honestly not sure why. I found myself purchasing and enjoying this music. Big & Rich was one of these bands. The funny thing is that while I haven't listened to the album in question HORSE OF A DIFFERENT COLOR in years as I fired it up on the old pc I found myself actually enjoying it.

It isn't that it is bad but it is not the type of country music that I usually listen to. My tastes tend to run more towards the early country of the almighty Johnny Cash and more of the early older bluegrass style of country. SO I honestly am not sure what drew me to this. I can say for sure that it is fun and that is not a bad thing. Sometimes that is the purpose of music. It can just be fun. It doesn't have to mean anything deeper then just that. I do not always feel that way but there are times when I just want to listen to something and not be emotionally moved. I just want to bob my head and tap my feet and maybe sing along. That is what Big & Rich do for me. Since the release of HORSE OF A DIFFERENT COLOR in 2004 they have only released two other albums 2005 was COMIN' TO YOUR CITY
and in 2007 we saw BETWEEN RAISING HELL AND AMAZING GRACE. Both of these later albums did not meet with much critical or commercial success. But both Big Kenny and John Rich are still out there playing music and I believe that they have a pretty loyal core fan base. I am just basically out of touch with that part of the musical world. But I do enjoy the songs off off this album.

"ROLLIN-(The Ballad of Big and Rich)" what makes this song fun for me is that it incorporates so many different types of music. The most noticeable being country, rock and rap. I hope you enjoy it.




This song is kind of a throw back to some of the earlier country songs. "Holy Water" is a pretty interesting song about regret and pain and how faith can bring you some level of comfort. I like it and I don't find it preachy. (This video is horrible though)



I think after the downer of a last song we will finish this up with the big hit off of this album and most people are probably going to have heard this at least once or twice and that is "Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy". It hit the charts hard in 2004 and was all over country radio. It seems that I am unable to embed the official video of the song which upsets me. It upsets me because the video has a marching band and cheerleaders and a midget cowboy and hot ladies in business suits. As Cake put it so well "short skirt and a long jacket".



There you go folks, now get out there and get your country on.

Hipster Kat says: "Why are you even letting people know you enjoy this, this, tripe"?

More Music (Ben Folds)

Today is music from one of my favorite artists. I love his work as a composer and as a performer. I really feel like Ben Folds is one of the most talented musicians in the world. He seems to be a student of music as well as a master of the piano. I do not have all of his library by any means. I would like to get it all at some point but I have three solo albums and two Ben Folds Five albums. I love them pretty much all equally.

Some songs touch me on a more emotional level and can just leave me gutted but others are just really, really well crafted songs and are incredibly nice to listen to. As a result it is going to be hard for me to narrow this down. So I am not sure what I am going to do. I think I may just do one from each of the albums I have. But I would encourage all of you to go out and to track down any and all Ben Folds that you can find. He really is amazing.

This first one is from the album WHATEVER AND EVER AMEN from 1997 and is called "Battle of Who Could Care Less". This is an amazing song and it gets bonus points for mention the Rockford Files.



The second album is THE UNAUTHORIZED BIOGRAPHY OF REINHOLD MESSNER from 1999 and is truly an amazing album. I do not think there is a bad song on it. There are truly 11 shining diamonds on this album starting with "Narcolepsy" and finishing with "Lullabye" all the songs are amazing. I am not sure where to be begin honestly.

I had to go with "Mess". It says so much.



I had to add another. I just couldn't help myself. This is a lovely, lovely song and the musical arrangement in it is just beautiful. It is called "Magic"



From there we move into Bens' first solo album from 2001 called ROCKIN' THE SUBURBS. I like this album almost as much as I like the last one. I think it is an underrated album but radio play has never been a hallmark of his success. I think Ben plays music for himself and we fans are lucky enough to get to enjoy it. What he writes is not your typical pop music crafted for the masses in some studio for the teen demographic. It isn't that I dislike that type of music but what Ben Folds does is nothing like it.

I am going to have to do three songs from this one. So, So, good.

"Gone" This song pretty much speaks for itself and anyone who knows me in real life knows exactly what I am talking about.




"Fred Jones, Pt. 2". This one is just really a sad and touching story of a retired newspaper man. It really is a lovely song.



"The Ascent of Stan". The piano in this. So amazing. No words for how good this song is. It is a song with some real truth in it.




The next album is from 2008 and is called WAY TO NORMAL and while there are some good songs on it. I do not feel it compares to the last two I just played. But there is one song that I have played here repeatedly and I am going to do so again today.

"You Don't Know Me" with Regina Spektor. Not much to say that I haven't said in the multiple times that I have already highlighted this song. Just listen to it.



The last album I have which as I look at it may not be a real album at all but may very well be a total bootleg is Ben Fold with the West Australian Symphony Orchestra from 2005.

This is called "The Luckiest"



I hope you all enjoyed Ben Folds and that this encouraged you to get some more of his music.

More Music (Bela Fleck)

Today is an artist who is really known for his banjo playing but he also had crossed some genres in terms of the different artists he has played with over the years. Now I realize that bluegrass isn't for everybody but I urge you to give this a listen. These are all instrumental pieces but they really have a nice sound to them.

I find that there are times when words just get in the way of really enjoying the music. The artist is Bela Fleck and the album is called PLACES it was released in 1988 and is a compilation of selections from 4 earlier solo albums DEVIATION, SNAKES ALIVE, DOUBLE TIME and INROADS. Bela is going to pop up in further into my music library as I get to some of the bluegrass groups most notably New Grass Revival (NGR) with whom he played for 9 years.

I am having a hard time finding some videos from this album but I will see if I can find some other banjo stuff from Bela Fleck just so you can see and hear how good he is.



That last one was a good example of just how skilled he is.



Dueling Banjos vs a Mac. Interesting. I like it.



There you go. Have a good day folks

More Music (The Beatles) Friday

Well I knew that it would come to this at some point. This is a band that I have one album of and it isn't even a real album it is just a greatest hits compilation. I think it is actually all of their number 1 songs. I know this will probably be a stance that most of you disagree with but I just do not care for the Beatles. I know lots of people really like them but I am not a fan. I really believe that both The Who and Led Zepplin are better bands from that era and yes the Beatles sold tons and tons of music but record sales do not really matter to me. I like lots of things regardless of their popularity with the unwashed masses. *sniff*

Hipster cat says "I'm with you Lance"!!

Thanks Hipster Cat.

So the album is called 1 and it is by the Beatles so here are a few songs.

"Penny Lane" is one of their songs.



This is another song it is called "Paperback Writer"



This one isn't on the album 1 but it is probably the only Beatles song I like "Helter Skelter"



There you go and please when you are flaming me for this. Be kind. :)

More Music (Thursday) Barenaked Ladies

So the first artist or band in the B category is the Barenaked Ladies and I just do not care about them anymore at all. I have one album of theirs and I am honestly not sure why that one is still in my collection. There was a time in my life when I had 5 or 6 but now it is just the one Stunt. I even saw them in concert but I am just not a fan anymore. I do not care about their music. That isn't to say that they are not talented because they totally are but I am just not feeling it anymore.

Here is their biggest hit "One Week" the actual video is not embeddable so this is what you get.



This one is called "Alcohol"



That is all you are getting today. I will be back tomorrow with another band that is really popular and that I just do not really care for.

More Music (Wednesday) The Avett Brothers

Well we have reached the end of the bands whose name starts with the letter A in my collection and we are closing it out with another group of brothers but these guys are a little different then the previously highlighted Allman brothers.

This set of brothers are from the south as well from North Carolina to be exact but they play a different style of music. They are the brothers Avett, Scott and Seth Avett otherwise known as The Avett Brothers . Now I discovered them from their first major label release, which is out now, titled "I And Love And You" but after listening to that album I had to track the rest of the earlier discography. As anyone knows who has read this blog in the past can tell you I love bluegrass and that is what drew to me the Avett Brothers in the first place. But after listening to their other albums I realize that what they are doing is beyond simple blue grass. I hope you enjoy it and can use this as impetus to track down some more of their earlier offerings.

This first song is off of their first EP which came out in 2001 simply titled The Avett Brothers. This one is called "My Lady and the Mountain"



I think I am going to be doing some album hop scotching from here on out. This song is from A Carolina Jubilee and is called "Me And God". I am not going to get real preachy here or anything like that. But, this song ties in a fair amount with how I feel about God and Church and life.



This next one is from another EP called The Second Gleaming and I think in a lot of ways it is far better then their latest release. The songs just are so strong and I sometimes find myself just waking up in the morning with one of these humming along in my brain. This one is called "Murder in the City"



The truth is that I could post three songs off of this EP and the second one I am going to post is one that I have posted here before but I do not care. It is good and you should like it too. "Tear Down The House"



The third one is called "Black, Blue" and the pain that is evident in it is sometimes heartbreaking to me. But I think that with the pain as I listen to it comes some kind of cleansing as well. This is a live version and is in Germany and Seth is singing I believe.



I suppose I should post one from their latest album so here you go. "Head Full Of Doubt/Road Full Of Promise". While more polished then the earlier stuff it is still pretty amazing.

More Music (Tuesday)

So after yesterday and our trip down thrash metal lane today the selection is something completely different. This is a band called Austra and their sound is just sonically glorious. It is at times goth like but also poppie and a little bit rock and roll as well. I have a hard time putting it into a category. One thing I heard that I liked was goth-tinged electronica.

They are a three person group from Toronto and their lead vocalist is a women named Katie Stelmanis and as you can see by the picture below she is lovely.

Their debut album is called "Feel it Break" and I am unable to recommend it highly enough.

"Lose It" is the first single and I know I have posted this video before but I just love the weirdness of it visually as well as the amazing sound.



This is called "Beat And The Pulse". I just want to get out of the way and have you listen to it. Just let it impact you.



This is "The Choke" and the video has nothing to do with the song. My apologies. But again just lean back and close your eyes and give this a listen.



That is it for today folks. I hope you enjoy it when I can bring you some brand new music. I know that I love it when I discover a new group that I enjoy and I hope that I bring some of you that same feeling.

More Music Monday

I knew that this day would come. The day that I hit a band on the tour of my collection that I was not really in the mood to listen to. Now it isn't that I dislike this band and I really do enjoy this album but I was just not in the mood for it at all. While they never got as big as Megadeath or Metallica they had there own fan base and some of their songs were inspired by some pretty different and cool things. This band is Anthrax. The band has put out 9 studio albums since they formed in 1981 and I have just one. It is called "Among The Living" and when I am in the mood for a little thrash metal it is one of my favorite albums. I think we will open with the title track which was inspired by the Stephen King book called "The Stand"

AMONG THE LIVING



There are 9 songs on this album and the whole thing clocks in at a quick 50 minutes. The amazing thing about most of the thrash metal bands of the late eighties what the sheer speed in which they played and Anthrax was faster then most. I will highlight that more later as we get further into my collection.

This next song is about one of my favorite comic book characters "Judge Dredd" forget about the Sylvester Stallone movie we just act like it never existed.

"I Am The Law"



This kind of metal was really a push back against some of the mid eighties metal. They were reacting against band like Poison, and Winger and White Lion and the era of the power ballad. It was pretty stripped down and raw and played as fast and as hard as possible. When you are in the mood to break something and stomp around and above all things "BANG YOUR HEAD" this is the music for you.

"One World" is an interesting song. While it is one of the best of the thrash metal songs it is also a call for non violence. Which I like but I also like the way that this song just roars.



Now I realize that this not music for everyone but such is the nature of my collection. It ranges all over the musical spectrum and I like to think that means I have pretty good taste in music. Or it could mean that I have no taste at all. I am not sure yet.

"KEEP ON ROCKIN"!!!

More Music Friday

Okay onward through the list. Today the artist in question is one of the great southern rock bands of the past. Now when I say that it probably brings two groups to mind either The Allman Brothers Band or Lynyrd Skynyrd.

Well in this case it is the Allman brothers and a greatest hits compilation known as "20th Century Masters - The Millennium Collection: The Best of the Allman Brothers Band". I actually feel kind of bad that I do not have more of their stuff but what I do have I really enjoy.

One of my favorites is "Whipping Post". It is another of those songs that has an unforgettable guitar line.



One of their if not their biggest hits was "Ramblin' Man". I like how this one just flows along. But I also get a kick out of songs that tell stories.



The other one that I have to go with is "Jessica". It is just a great song.



This kind of music has kind of faded in popularity at least as far as radio play goes. I imagine that there are some bands out there still flying the southern rock flag but I just can't imagine that any of them can hold a candle to the Allman Brothers.

I guess I will throw up a classic Skynyrd song but really I do prefer the Allman Brothers

Here you go with a little "Sweet Home Alabama"

More Music Thursday

I am sorry about missing yesterday folks. The Timbers had a game and I got home very late so I didn't get anything written down or set up for my blog. But, onward and upward. The next artist on the wild alphabetical ride through my musical catalog is

ADELE Now I realize I am a little remiss in that I only own her second album 21. I am intending to remedy that soon and pick up the rest of her discography which looks to be one full album 19 and 3 different EP's "Hometown Glory", "Chasing Pavements" and "Cold Shoulder". If these are as good as 21 then I do not think I will be disappointed by them at all.

If you have not heard her, and I would be a little surprised at this point if you hadn't because she is popping up everywhere, please give her a listen. Here are three of my favorites off of her latest offering.

I really detest what VEVO has done to YouTube but this is her biggest hit and I just love the video and I love the drums in this song.



This is Adele doing "Turning Tables" live and it is amazing.



This last one is Adele covering "Lovesong" from the Cure. This is truly one of my favorite Cure songs and she really nails it.



I think as a little treat for my readers I am going to leave you with a video that I just found of Linkin Park covering "Rolling in the Deep". I am not a Linkin Park fan but wow. They did a great job.



And here are the Cure doing the original version of "Lovesong"

Music Monday (Collection Continued)

So as I mentioned on Wednesday, I am going to be working my way through my music collection alphabetically and who up next today. Well this may not come as much of a surprise to those who know me. But after Abba on my list is (drum roll please) AC/DC

The first time I heard AC/DC was in grade school. The school was having an airband competition and one of my friends said we should do AC/DC and I was hooked. In my music library I have 21 AC/DC albums, 214 songs and about 15 hours and 46 minutes of playing time all told. I will grant you that is a lot of time and space for what most would argue is not a very good band. But, there are times where they just work for me. I just am able to totally enjoy them and really isn't that what listening to music should be all about.

Now with a discography this large I can only really take a dip into it but I hope I give you some listening pleasure and perhaps get you to purchase a classic album or two.

Off of their first album in 1975 T.N.T. is the classic that gets played at hockey games all over the land. T.N.T.



Most fans, myself included, feel that early AC/DC with Bon Scott is a far better band then they are now. Not that people hate Brian Johnson but his voice is just not the same. But before we go on to AC/DC with him. I want to give you another from Bon Scott

LET THERE BE ROCK!!!



I would be remiss if I didn't put up one of the many of the bands hits that upset the churchies back in the 70's and that is from 1979 and that last album Bon Scott sang on "Highway to Hell". This song has one of the most memorable guitar riffs of all time. If you are a fan of rock you will instantly recognize this riff. It is a rather appropriate song sine Bon died of alcohol poisoning soon after the release of this album.



I guess if I have to give one song to Brian Johnson it is this one and I realized that as I went through this list I just do not really care about the stuff after Back in Black. Sure there are some okay albums and the stuff off of Who Made Who is kind of fun. But my list stops here.



There you go folks. You have a good day and remember these words and live my them

KEEP ON ROCKIN!!!!

Friday

Happy Friday all, there is not much going on today. I haven't had much time to see any movies lately so that is my excuse for this not being a typical Film Friday post. But I did hear this awesome song from The Black Keys. Now to be honest it is a cover of a song by Richard Berry but their version just really rocks. I defy you to listen to it and not bob your head. You should totally check it out from 2004 it "Have Love Will Travel"

Thursday

There was a Timbers game last night. It turned into a late night. So I got nothing today. Take a moment and enjoy the bit of wisdom above. Now if you excuse me, I am off to slay some Goblins and perhaps an Orc or two.

Wednesday

So I kind of had an epiphany today as I was listening to The Decemberists third full album The Crane Wife. As I was listening to it at the coffee shop it struck me just how good this album was and I posted this on my Facebook wall.

"The Crane Wife is one of the best albums in the last 10 years. If you haven't heard it, you need to do so. To not is a personal failing. One which you will regret."

Now, I do not know if you would regret never hearing it. Because if you never heard it how would you know what you are missing. I do not regret missing Schindler's List. I have heard from lots of people how good it is. But, since I haven't seen it I really have no idea one way or the other. So I do not regret anything. I REGRET NOTHING!!!

That is not the point. The point is that The Crane Wife is an amazing album and I just want people to hear it. I think I realized that one of the things that I really enjoy in life is listening to music and writing about music and letting others know about musical discoveries that I have made. Now, I am not claiming that I am the be all and end all of cool and my opinion is all that matters when it comes to music. But there are types and styles of music and artists that I like better then others. So I decided that along with what I do on Music Mondays I am going to do a little bit more about music on Wednesdays as well. I like music too much to not do it.

So that being said, I am not sure if I am going to do any kind of a theme or anything like that. I may highlight an artist or a band or perhaps a year. It may be new or old, it may be obscure or really popular. I do know that it all be stuff that I enjoy and stuff that resides in my collection in one form or the other. There are times where I may highlight an album or perhaps the entire discography of a band. I do not know.

What I do know is that I intend to have a lot of fun doing this and hopefully the few of you who stop in now and then are going to have some fun as well. In fact I think what I am going to do right now at least is just begin to work my way alphabetically through my collection. I will do this Artist by Artist and the ones that have a lot of albums then I will try to highlight a song from each album. The others I am going to play it by ear.

So with out further foolishness the first album in my collection alphabetically is a compilation of songs from ABBA. It is called ABBA - Gold: Greatest Hits. When possible I am going to link these titles to their Amazon page. I do not use iTunes so that is not going to be an option.

I like ABBA. There I said it. I just enjoy the harmonies and I like the pop music. I do not feel like they are trying to be anything more then they are. They were a pop music band and it worked for them. I think if you climb down of whatever particular musical pedestal that you prescribe to and give them a new lesson you just might be presently surprised. I know am now and then when I give old music a new listen. So lets see what I can find on YouTube.



What could I possibly say about "Take A Chance On Me"? Just sit back and let the music flow through you. It is a sweet song at the core. Just someone letting their friend that they will be there for them.



I would argue that in some small way if it wasn't for "Chiquitita" then there would not have been The Madonna song "La Isla Bonita" and if there had not been that. Then there may not have been the Lady Gaga song "Alejandro"



I implore you, ignore the clothes and the goofiness of the video and just listen to the music. "Waterloo" is a finely crafted pop song. The hook is excellent and the chorus carries so well. This is how pop music is supposed to be.

It occurs to me that if I follow this path some of you may learn far more about me based just on my taste in music. That is kind of scary but kind of fun as well. So please tell me your thoughts on my music. If you liked it or didn't that is fine but please tell me why you feel the way you do.

See you next week.

Televison Tuesday

It is Tuesday, actually it is Television Tuesday to put a label on it. But, I have not been watching a lit of television lately. It isn't to say that I have been really busy. Because I have not been. But since I do not have normal broadcast television I pick and choose and most of the shows I watch are on their breaks right now.

One show that I have decided to try to watch after hearing people talk about it (mostly girls) is "One Tree Hill". This show has been on the CW for 9 seasons. I know!! I had no idea and I had never seen an episode. So yesterday evening I decided to give the pilot a look. I was actually pleasantly surprised. I have only seen two episodes so far but I can see what it is that the young ladies like about it.

"YUMMY!!!! Am I right ladies?"

So anyway it is pretty obvious to me what is going on. But the show also seemed a bit deeper then just shirtless boys for the ladies. So we will see. I am going to give it a hopeful and optimistic thumb up. I will let you know if my thoughts change on it.

Music Monday (July 17, 2011)

I had a great morning yesterday. For a couple of reasons. It was raining when I woke up and I had some coffee and I had some sweet modern folk or Nu-Acoustic tunes on my playslist. I love waking up to rain. I love opening my window and hearing and smelling the rain and I love doing those while drinking some good coffee and listening to some sweet tunes. So today you get a little taste of how lance spent the morning yesterday.

I do not care if it July. I love a nice summer rain and I love living in Oregon. If you do not like living here, then kindly GTFO. You are not wanted anyway.

The morning got started with this little number by the Avett Brothers. I have really been enjoying these guys lately. The song is called "Tear Down The House".



I know lots of people feel like Bon Iver is, for want of a better word, SUICIDE music but I really like it. I think it is lovely and sets a unique tone. "Wisconsin" is a great song.



Pretty much everyone knows about Mumford & Sons by now. But the song "Timshel" is one that I just love. It goes so well with coffee and rain.



This is a band that I have just kind of stumbled on. They are Fleet Foxes I really enjoy the tone and I love that to me the vocals sound a little like XTC one of my favorite bands. This song is called "Anyone who's anyone".



As happens sometimes when you have your music on shuffle you might get songs from the same band and in this case I do not mind at all. This song is called "Icicle Tusk" and is again by Fleet Foxes.



Oooh I really love this guy, his name is Dallas Green and he plays under the name City and Colour. This is another band that was introduced to me by my friend Jenna and I am really glad she did. The song is called "Day Old Hate".



I seriously do not know what I can say that is even going to do justice to what Iron & Wine do. I love it so much. This song is called "Cinder and Smoke".



Aaaaaah some more Iron and Wine with "Love and Some Verses". So good. If you end up weeping from how lovely this is it is not my fault. I warned you.



This is another one by City and Colour and is called "...off by heart". It is another nice mellow one. It isn't my favorite of the playlist but it popped into the first ten so here it is.



This amazingly lovely and sad song is a cover of a Bonnie Rait song called "I Can't Make You Love Me". This is Bon Iver and his version is absolutely heart breaking. As one of the YouTube commentators said "Excuse me while I cry all over everything."



Well that is it for today folks. The first 10 songs on my Rainy Sunday Morning playlist. I just had a great, great Sunday. I hope that my Monday is just as good and I hoped that my music today helped some of you have a great day as well. As a little bonus for those of you who followed this all the way through here is an XTC song in case you were not aware of who they were. The song is called "Dear God"

Friday

I think Friday is a good day for some Bowie. I know that for some people David Bowies mix of crazy sexuality and music is just a little too much. But I really love his stuff and the level of talent that he possesses is just incredible as well as the talent of the different people that he has had in his bands over the years. Here are a few of my favorites of his.



Space Oddity is a song that just sticks with you. I love that it tells a story and that it is just so freaking strange. I love that Major Tom just bails out of the spaceship.



Oh you pretty things is just a great song. So good.

Man this movie. I can still watch it and say it is horrible but it just fascinates me.

Tuesday

It is Tuesday and I am starting to feel like I am kind of climbing out of the pit I was in last week. There are lots of reasons why I am feeling this way. There have been good conversations with friends. Some good one on one conversations with people that are special to me. As well as some good texting. I know the idea of texting doesn't work for everybody but it totally works for me. I find it a little less draining. The idea is that at least for me I like to be left alone during times like this to process and to figure out what I am feeling. One of the ways that this works for me is through music. So I am just going to follow that theme and put up some tunes today and have helped me begin this process. So thanks for indulging me. I know throwing up a bunch of YouTube videos is not the being a good blogger and some of you may just not have the time to watch these. But if you do I hope they bring you some happiness like they have me.

I know that I will probably never be over Grandma but I am starting to feel less sad and I know that is a good thing and I want to be able to celebrate her life and the amazing family that she was the matriarch of. I want to be able to remember and be happy about the good memories because and I am only able to speak for myself all the memories I have of Grandma are good ones.



Grandma did just that. Thanks Mom and Dad and my Aunts and Uncles for being part of my life and making my youth a happy and full one.



I would have liked to talk to her one last time. I will regret that...



This song always helps when I feel like no one understand me. I know that rationally that this is not true but at the same time this song just touches me.

That is it for today. I need to keep on swimming.

Music Monday (July 11, 2011)

Music that has all kinds of meaning to me and maybe it might to you. I do not care if it does or not. If you can figure out what the music means to me then you win the prize. Yay!











Live version of a song that I absolutely love.

Wednesday

One day down, another day has began. Just keep moving or if I take the advice from "Finding Nemo" I need to just keep swimming. The trouble is that today. Today, I don't really feel much like swimming. I feel staying in one place. I feel like being totally, completely, needy and sucking the emotions from my friends.

But I also feel like being completely alone. No phone calls, no visiting and not venturing out into the cruel eye of the sun today. It is bright and beautiful and blue out there and far to pretty for the gloom that want to vent. I know that she was 93 years old and that she had been getting weaker and weaker and I know all of the rational things that I need to be telling myself. But they are not working. I know some of you may not want to listen to Lance moan about this. But those of you who know me also know that this is how I vent and process so you are kind of stuck. You can read it or not. That is up to you.

What is up to me, is me trying to process what I am dealing with and doing it in such way that I am still a functioning member of society. I do not see any reason why that can't happen but it may take few days to get myself back on track so to speak.








It occurs to me that this blog and the music videos may cause people some concern. Rest assured that I am not feeling suicidal. I am just sad and sad for me takes some pretty dark turns because most of the time I am not a particularly sad person. So no worries and if you want to comment or text me. I always read them.

Grandma Linstrom

That is my Grandma Linstrom. She passed on Sunday night it may have been just after midnight on Sunday. I can't remember and and frankly things have been a little foggy the last few days for several reasons.

I remember going to her and Grandpas house in Portland. They lived in the St. Johns are and while it always felt a little rough to this shy boy from Salem. When I drive through now, the rare times that I do, it brings back so many good memories. Often the house would smell of fresh baked bread. I can remember some good times with the whole family all of the aunts and uncles and the kids just hanging out in the backyard and talking.

That is what my family would do. They would come together around Grandma it did not always need a reason for it to happen. It didn't have to be a major holiday and things were not contrived to force us to be together. They got together because they wanted to. Because they wanted to spend time with the amazing woman that had given birth to all of these kids and had raised this clan.

Grandma lived long enough to see all of her grandchildren grow up to be adults and a couple of great grandchildren get into highschool. As she got older when there would be get together sometimes she would just sit with me and hold my hand. Shew rarely would say she would just sit there and hold my hand and listen to the family around her. I still remember her thin almost papery skin as she got older and I always wondered what she was getting out of just sitting with me. But I know it never bothered me and I do not think I ever walked away from it wishing that it hadn't happened. It was part of my relationship with Grandma and I loved her for it.

I never ever felt anything but love and acceptance come from this woman. Despite all the years, despite the stupid things I might have done, or the bad choices I was making. She just always loved me. She loved all the kids.

I will always miss you Grandma. Thanks for caring for me. Thank you most of all for living a long, long life full of dignity and grace. I just hope when my time comes I go out as well as you.

I LOVE YOU GRANDMA ALZO!!

Music Monday (Thrice and Iron & Wine)

So over the course of the week I was introduced to a couple of new bands. They were new to me at least. One of these bands is named Thrice and my friend Jenna introduced me to them. I wasn't sure at first if I was going to like them but after hearing the album "The Alchemy Index" which just really blew my mind.

The album is a basically a series of 4 EP where each EP represented an element of nature with the order of the elements being Fire, Water, Air, Earth. The final song of each disc is presented like a sonnet and tells the story of a man and his relationship with each of the elements. An interesting aspect is that each of the final songs is written in iambic pentameter and has a concluding rhyming couplet.




This song is from the Air EP called "Daedalus". It is hard for me to explain how the rest of the songs sound or the whole album actually but take a look around Youtube and give them a listen. They are pretty cool.

The other group or artist that I recently found myself enjoying is "Iron & Wine" which is basically Samuel Beam a singer-songwriter who uses Iron & Wine as his recording name. He does sometimes tour with a full band but often his stuff is just him. His music really ranges from acoustic to some electric and all points around it.



I could listen to "Boy with a coin for hours". Over and over again.



This song was in the film "Garden State". I love it as well.

There you go that is today's look at music I hope you have a good 4th.

Film Friday (Sucker Punch)

So I watched Sucker Punch this week thanks to the miracle of a little thing I like to call a bit torrent. SUCK ON THAT CORPORATE OVERLORDS!!!

Hipster Cat says only suckers pay box office prices for movies!!

Hey!! Back in your cage Hipster Cat your time will come!! So anyway, I watched Sucker Punch this week, the film directed by Zach Snyder who also directed "Dawn of the Dead", "300", "Watchman", Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole, and is in pre production for "Man of Steel" which I think is a sequel to the Shaq film "Steel". Mr Snyder has also written "300" and wrote the screenplay / story for "Sucker Punch".

So where do I begin? Lets see if I can find you a synopsis for this film. Oh? Why thank you internet. Here we are courtesy of IMDB:

"A young girl is institutionalized by her abusive stepfather. Retreating to an alternative reality as a coping strategy, she envisions a plan which will help her escape from the mental facility."

Well that seems pretty simple doesn't it? I mean that sounds like a nice little movie. It may not be a feel good movie but it sounds like it could be kind of cerebral and may be a little bit like "Girl, Interrupted" . Why don't we take a look at the "Sucker Punch" trailer.



aaaaaaah what in the world was that? It doesn't look at all like the synopsis and I think saw a dragon and some sort of robomech and a samurai. That just doesn't even make any sense. I bet that once I actually see the film things will make a lot more sense. It is hard to tell what is going on from just the trailer and I do not like to jump to conclusions about important issues like popular culture.

The short concise answer to the question of whether or not the actual full movie made more sense then the trailer is this...nooooope. Not at all. I am really unable to explain my feelings about this movie. The story is interesting. The visuals are well done. But the core of it is that a young woman is nearly raped and her younger sister is raped and in the aftermath of the incident the older sister ends up in an insane asylum for girls. While she is in the asylum she takes herself to some sort of fantasy 1930's kind of prison/whorehouse but that isn't enough for the director. When the lead character "baby" yes that is her name. When she dances men are hypnotized by her and then she goes into a second fantasy world. So then we have a fantasy within a fantasy. Which is really just silly and one of the many reasons why I thought "Inception" was just dumb.

But back to Sucker Punch. At the core the story is pretty harrowing one but this film, whatever the reason and my money is on the studio, was afraid to take us to that place. The movie is PG-13. There is no profanity, there is no nudity, and if there is any blood it is very little. Now, I grant you that not every movie needs to have these things to be a good movie. But this is a story that could have been much like "Requiem For A Dream" a harrowing film that actually hurts to watch but is so amazingly done that you have to respect it for its honest look at how horrible drug abuse is and how it can wreck your life.

Instead this film is more like "Requiem For a Dream" for the "Twilight" generation and that my friends does not make for a good movie. It is soft and weak and afraid to takes its audience to a dark place that may just slap them in the face and say WAKE THE F UP!!! Which is horrible, because that is what this movie desperately wants to do. It shows its card in the final dialogue of the movie.

"who honors those we love for the very life we live
who sends monsters to kill us and at the same time sings that we'll ever die
who teaches us what's real and how to laugh at lies
who decides why we live and what we'll die to defend
who chains us and who holds the key that can set us free
it's you
you have all the weapons you need
now fight"

Sadly what came before did not do this justice and as far as I am concerned that means that Sucker Punch was a miss. It missed high, wide and not very handsome. There was so much potential in it to be something great. Something amazing like "Fight Club" was and instead it became a film for fan boys and Japanese businessmen and that is a sad, sad thing.