So, my iPod has been crapped out for quite some time now. If I am lucky it will play through a couple of songs. If I am not it won't make it through one. A few days ago I finally got around to sending it off to Circuit City under the wire before my Protection Plan expired. Fingers crossed that they get it and don't try and find a loophole to not help my poor baby.

So, this goes out to my beloved iPod, Larry Fred. We had some good times you and I. Remember when I played you for the of the owner of that hostel in Northern Ireland? I played him Nada Surf and then he introduced me to Snow Patrol. Or when we moved up to Chicago... it was just you and me against the world. I remember listening to the Future Soundtrack for America on you in the weeks leading up to the 2004 elections (This Will Be Our Year. Move On). I'm sad you won't be with me to celebrate the end of Bush's reign. Sure, I might of been a little rough on you at times, but I tried to always remember to put on your protective case when I went out and I very rarely touched you inappropriately...

...

I'm sorry I ever put Hoobastank on you. There, I said it. I'm so sorry, I don't know why I did it. Oh god, that's why you stopped working isn't it? Please forgive me.

I don't deserve you Larry Fred. Maybe I never did.

But I kind of feel like I deserve a 60 gig iPod video. So please be beyond repair.

Have you ever thought to yourself why why why a band would choose a certain single off of their album when it is clearly the weakest song off the whole thing and then the band doesn't even play it live on a regular basis (*cough* young america *cough*). Well, now you have a chance to be a part of the decision-making process. The Format has clips of 5 new songs on their site and are asking people to listen to them and then mail them their choice for first single of their new album. Just go to their site and sign up for the Living Room to gain access.

My choice is Time Bomb, with The Compromise being a very close second.

So, a lot has been going on in this blogger's life lately and I've been all mixed up and not knowing what to do! I've got a new pimp job (pimp being an adjective describing my job and, you know, not a noun) and a sweet ass new apartment with my good friend Shayna (and there I actually mean exposed posterior... we're in apartment 311which is the police code for indecent exposure! And everyone just went ahhhh....not clever! about my earlier 311 reference...or any of it really.) I've just not had time for much posting on here. Fear not...this site was too much of an invenstment to slack off on for too long, and I can't let Shan's super wonderful design go to waste now can I?

So, hopefully you will understand if I don't update as consistently as I would like (especially in the next couple of weeks during the big move! Who knows when I'll get my internet back up and running). But hear you me, I have not forgotten about you.

Anyway, I'm not the only one getting ready for a big move. My good dear friend Mel is making the move to Seattle. Mel is good at picking out cool clothes for me to wear and going on road trips to NY to see Damien Rice! I'm sad she is leaving, but that's fine because when she lives far away she sends me stuff in the mail and it makes me feel special. I know she will be very happy there with her boyfriend and her fattest cat in the world.

I made her about 5 mix CDs for the drive. Most of them are happy, party, lets-drive-and-feel- the-sun-and-eat-hawaiian-shaved-(heh)-ice and be glad that life is so wonderful kind of music. But, of course, I had to make one album that is at least a little tiny bit sad/depressing/guilt inducing on the off chance she decides to stay and help me shop for more cool clothes! But I couldn't even make that as stupid sad bastards as I usually do, because I really am so happy for her. And also, some of the songs are about romantic relationships. Please take them out of context like I did! So, in honor of moving, here is that playlist full of songs about moving (or just moving songs):

Continue reading "New... You're So New"

New albums from April 18th. Sure, Mat Kearney favors a spoken word rap that sometimes reminds me of Everlast or Crazy Town. He also reminds me a lot of Coldplay and John Mayer...and it actually meshes pretty well with the aforementioned rapping. His new CD, Nothing Left to Lose, features some favorites from his last album, Bullet, as well as new songs (many that he hasn't been playing at concerts recently.) This CD would be perfect for an urban church youth group, but give it a try, it might be perfect for you too.

Continue reading "New Tuesday"

iTunes shuffles through my MP3 library and gives you ten of its favorites. Happy Birthday Jónsi and Roy Orbison!

1. Damien Rice - The Blower's Daughter
2. Jason Mraz - Wordplay
3. The Mamas and the Papa's - My Girl
4. Sufjan Stevens - Oh Holy Night
5. Fiona Apple - Never is a Promise
6. The Fruit Bats - Legs of Bees
7. Dispatch - Carry You (Live)
8. Glen Phillips - Thankful
9. The Delgados - Coming In From the Cold
10. Calexico - Guero Canelo

7/7 = my birthday
7/13 = Fiona Apple and Damien Rice in Chicago.

Coincidence?

Music Bath is off to somewhere warm and sunny for the next couple of days. I'm not sure where I'm going, but I know a plane will be involved!

Until I get back enjoy the song Bruised by Jack's Mannequin and think of me flying off to somewhere beautiful.

I am almost always sad when I hear that a band is breaking up. I think of the countless hours they spent conceptualizing, recording, promoting and touring. I think of the nights they spent directly before releasing their CD... the anticipation and the dreams. Even if I don't love the band I still feel for them... it is always hard leaving your dreams behind and hoping that the dreams ahead are just as promising.

So, lets all bid farewell to Blue Merle. Sure, they might have sounded (a lot) like Chris Martin's bluegrass side project. But they were catchy and had a lot of musical talent. This was a breakup that I didn't see coming. Their first single "Burning in the Sun" got quite a bit of airplay and their extensive touring, including Lollapalooza, was building up a noticeable fan base. I am positive that Blue Merle's music will live on in the form of Luke Reynolds, the band's lead singer, who will be continuing to play new solo material as well as Blue Merle favorites. The band's other Luke is currently touring with MIchelle Branch's The Wreckers.

Another band is leaving us that didn't get to the point Blue Merle had, but had been doing it for longer. The Argument has been making music for nearly a decade. They make the kind of music that sounds great blaring from a frat house on a hot summer day or in American Pie 7: Stifler's Dog. While at awarestore I listened to a lot of bands promo CD's and the Argument is one of those that I thought had some potential.

So, if you are fans of the bands or if you have never heard them, head over to their sites and say goodbye and good luck and check out their stuff. Just because they are breaking up doesn't mean that it isn't the perfect time to get into them. I'm sure both bands would appreciate another fan ten years from now saying "I'm still listening to them."

Once again I put my iTunes on Shuffle and see what 10 random songs fate deliveries.

1. Bright Eyes - The Big Picture
2. Sufjan Stevens - Angels We Have Heard On High
3. M. Ward - Paul's Song
4. Denison Witmer - Finding Your Feet Again
5. Damien Rice - Rootless Tree (Live)
6. Metric - On A Slow Night
7. The Bravery - Fearless
8. Gustavo Santaolalla - Do We Lose 21Grams?
9. David Mead - A Gift For You All
10. Paul Winter - Farewell to Govan

Better late then never, here is a rundown of last Tuesday's new albums. While Idaho's Josh Ritter I think stands up better as a live artist than on CD, "Animal Years" might be the best we have seen from him. It is filled with many beautiful mellow folk songs such as "Idaho," "Monster Ballads," and "One More Mouth" that will be sure to please sad bastard music lovers like me. Be sure to catch Josh live if you have a chance.

Continue reading "New Tuesday"

Awhile ago I went to see Nada Surf (with Rogue Wave and Inara George) at the Metro. Afterwards, I headed down to the merch store to get a poster of the gig. Unfortunately they had sold out before I could get one (they were talking about the posters during the show.) Dejected, I decided to try and find the poster artist online. I turned to the wonderful Gigposters.com and found that the artist was Diana Sudyka and there it was. That site is a great place to go if you just want to look at some awesome concert poster art.

Anyway, I e-mailed her and she said that I could stop by her office and buy one of the posters. Score. So a couple of days later I headed out on an expedition to find the office. On the train I decided to call my friend Shannon and have a chat about how life was going. She was great, helping me keep my mind off of how I didn't have a clue where I was going while getting lost in the back alleys of Chicago. We chatted about the recent Glen Hansard gig in New York and she dropped the bomb that the reason they were in NY in the first place was to mix their new album!!! *Framesgasm* Sadly, I was informed, it wouldn't be out until after Lollapalooza.

Moving on, I finally found the office I was looking for, but I couldn't remember the company name. So I started by pressing the buzzer for ATS Design:

Me: Hello?
ATS: Hello?
Me: I'm supposed to pick up a poster. Do you know if this is where I am supposed to pick up the poster?
ATS: WE DON'T HAVE POSTERS!!!
Me: Um... do you know if there is a company in the building that does have posters?
*silence*
Me: Hello?
Me: Hello?
Me: Sigh.

So then I tried buzzing a company called The Bird Machine because it sounded familiar.

Me: Hi, I'm supposed to be picking up a poster. Am I in the right place?
TBM: You're here now?
Me: Um...yes.
TBM: You're fired.
Me: Excuse me?
TBM: Come on up. 2nd floor at the end of the hall. *Buzzz*

So up I went to a freakin' awesome office filled with cool looking people making cool looking art. They hooked me up with my poster and were extremely friendly. Jay Ryan, who has been designing bad ass stuff for over a decade (including the cover of a Michael Chabon novel and a different art print for every song off of Andrew Bird's most recent album) was particullarly kind and allowed me to look through the office drawers at a lot of their old posters. There were a lot of great posters in there, like the Decemberists and Death Cab for Cutie. In one drawer I found a poster of the cover of Andrew Bird's album, "The Mysterious Production of Eggs."

Me: Wow. Did you design the cover of Andrew Bird's album.
JR: Yeah.
Me: I love that album.
JR: If you like that one you are going to love his new album...it's even better.
Me: He's got a new album coming out? That's great. Will it be out before Lollapalooza.
JR: No, they're still finishing it up.
Me: That's so funny, I was just talking to a friend on the way over here about the Frames who are also playing Lollapalooza and she said they have a new album being mixed too, and it also won't be out before Lollapalooza.
JR: You like the Frames?
Me: Oh yeah, they are great.
JR: I'm friends with the guitarist.
Me: Rob?
JR: Yeah, just a second.
Me: *Waits*
JR: Here's a shirt I designed for their last tour.

So I ended up leaving with a poster as well as a shirt from a tour that I went to! Which is great because I had been kicking myself for not getting a Frames shirt. So thanks to Shannon for keeping me company and to the people at The Bird Machine for being so wonderful and life for being so crazy sometimes. You can check out their stuff and buy stuff here.

Here is the graphic from the Frames shirt

Here I am pretending that I didn't just wear the shirt for a day, sleep in it, get up, shower, and put it right back on all wrinkled and gross because I love it that much.

Continue reading "(clap clap)"

Ten random songs chosen by iTunes for your listening pleasure:

Marjorie Fair - Hold On To You
Magnet - The Day We Left Town
David Hopkins - My Time is Running Out
Devendra Banhart - The Body Breaks
KT Tunstall - Black Horse and a Cherry Tree
Interpol - Evil
The Rapture - Olio
Peter Sallett - Beautiful Torch
Bell X1 - Reacharound
Anathallo - The Bruised Reed

This most recent Tuesday brought the release of the new Flaming Lips album. Man, I can't believe it has been almost four years since the realase of "Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robot." That means it has been almost four years since I graduated college. Yeesh. Judging from the clips I've heard it sounds like a pretty good offering, with a good amount of mellow but also some pretty weird guitary stuff too. The single, "The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song" sounds like a lot of fun, but I can see myself getting tired of the chorus quickly. Maybe. Either way, I'm excited for their new album. It is getting me pumped to see them at Lollapalooza (One of many bands it will be my first time seeing!)

Continue reading "New Tuesday"

Ok, so my friend Shannon posted this as a comment, but it was too great not to have its own post. Also, I didn't have anything for my on the web section yet!

This kind of reminds me of when I asked the Reckless Records workers in London if they had anything that was like Travis. They were not pleased.

Is just what I'm going through. At the moment that is extreme happiness.

I started listening to Mr. Damien Rice in early 2002 (hot on the heels of my return from Ireland). After moving to Kentucky, Damien was the first concert I saw... I drove by myself up to Louisville. The concert was easily one of the best I have seen (the only on that tops it was the final JLC show, and that was in large part due to a lot of emotional sentiment). I had gone not expecting much and instead had been floored. You can read more about that show on my friend Shannon's page. Speaking of which I have met a lot of my favorite people through Damo shows...Courtney, Shannon, Courtney again...and the rest (I learned that trick from early Gilligan's Island). I also got exposure to one of my current favorite bands: The Frames.

Even from the first shows I saw in early 2003, Damien had at least another album worth of material recorded and he promised it would be around soon. Every year since then I have listed the Damien Rice CD (along with Fiona Apple's long-awaited CD) as my most anticipated new CD of the next year on year end articles. We've instead received 4(!!!) releases of "O," a b-sides album (the contents of which I already owned having dilligently purchased all of the singels and a Live CD/DVD. Other than that the only new studio music we have heard have been Unplayed Piano and Cross-Eyed Bear. But no new album in sight.

If that weren't bad enough, Damien hasn't been back since I saw him in early 2004. 2 years with no hints of him coming back to the US.

According to the Damien Rice website, Damien Rice is currently planning a tour of the US for June/July with Fiona Apple. I think I just squealed. No. I'm sure of it.

Continue reading "What I Give to You..."

Sufjan Stevens recently won the New Pantheon Music Award joining the ranks of...no one really considering this was the inaugural year for the awards. The awards take a look at those great albums mostly ignored by the Grammys... albums that are critically acclaimed or masterfully constructed but have sold less than 500,000 copies. Celebrity and industry judges such as Elijah Wood, Ben Gibbard and my hero Nic Harcourt could nominate up to 7 worthy albums. Then, those nominations were whittled down to ten finalists.

As much as I love Sufjan (nominated by Jason Mraz?!? Cool!), I probably would have chose Fiona Apple as winner from the finalists. (Fiona was nominated by Elton John, Dave Matthews, Beck, Shirley Manson and more.) There was some really steep competition though, and it is just nice that these great bands are getting recognized.

It's also fun to look through the full list of nominations and see who all the nominators chose. It makes me like them all just a little bit more. For example John Cameron Mitchell nominating Andrew Bird = GLEE! I also think it is very cute and touching that Tony Kanal (from No Doubt) nominated Matt Costa, since Matt's CD was produced by Tom Dumont (of No Doubt). Awwwww. I'm sure he didn't do it just because of Tom, it is a great CD, that just touches me in my No Doubt places of awwwness (as does Tony's bio which mentions being in the studio to work on the new No Doubt CD! WOOHOO!). Look at the nominators before you look at the nominated CDs and see if you can guess who nominated what!

Seriously though, take a peak at the Nominated CDs if you want some great suggestions for new music from people who know their stuff.

The Elected/The Magic Numbers - 04/01/06 - The Double Door
Overall: 4 out of 5

   

Michelle and Keri, as well as their friend Thales, and I arrived at the Double Door a bit before the show started. It was not crowded at all so we headed to the bar for some drinks for the ladies and had some interesting discussion about people and stuff and things. I don't know, I was drifting... face petting was involved somewhere in there I think. Mostly we were all just very excited for the show.

This was my second show seeing the Eleceted open a sold out show as well as my second sold out Magic Numbers headlining show, so I was excited to see how they would compare to my first experiences.

Continue reading "This Way to Happy"

  Posted by Kyle at 08:34 PM | Permalink

  Catagories: Concert Reviews