in which two brilliant songs are put together

so, i'm taking a break out of my insane week (during which i should have posted a zillion songs, all in queue) to bring you the following video by frightened rabbit (who hits LA again in october! be still my heart!).

all i have to say is OMGSQUEE, FAKE EMPIRE LEADS INTO MY BACKWARDS WALK?!? BRILLIANCE. SHEER BRILLIANCE! WHERE CAN I GET AN MP3 OF THIS?!?

(for those of you who don't have the time to watch the entire hour long show, shot in SF earlier this year, you can skip ahead! excellent!)

in which a song is like being in a bouncy house

so, i had a dream last night, in which i was in a classroom and we were having a class party for WINTER. yes, winter! there were huge, sparkly letters declaring this, plus snowflakes hanging from the ceiling, cups of hot chocolate everywhere, and the teacher passing out mittens and beanies.


this is my subconscious telling me, obviously, that i am not dealing well with the heat wave rolling through socal.


but yet, despite the yearning for cold times, it is still firmly summer here, and as we all know, there are certain songs that just do better in warm weather. free energy is a band that makes warm weather songs, and their infectious anthem bang pop screams summer, pool parties, and otter pops. and while the original is crazy fun all by itself, the fool's gold remix is like being in one of those bouncy houses.



Now I was super messed up
Like it would never end
Floatin over the black top
Without a single friend
Down came a light beam
Right through my breaking heart
Message from the galaxy
That's how it's gotta start

Bang pop pop
When does this searchin stop?
Bang bang pop pop
When the mind goes
Bang bang pop pop
Where does the moment stop?
Bang pop pop
Oh-way-oh

Now she was walkin downstairs
Completely crystallized
Cherry lips and long hair
With a pair of sunset eyes
She's from a weird world
A mistake in Earth descent
Neon lips like a rainbow kid
She's poppin gum in the basement

We glance
I move around
And come into her sights
The power's on
And it's burnin through the night
Her lips don't move
And it's comin through her eyes
It's makin me out of my mind

Bang pop pop
When does this searchin stop?
Bang bang pop pop
When the mind goes
Bang bang pop pop
Where does the moment stop?
Bang pop pop
Oh-way-oh
We glance
I move around
And get her in my sights
The heat comes on
And it's burnin through the night
Her lips don't move
And it's comin through her eyes
It's makin me out of my mind

Bang pop pop
When does this searchin stop?
Bang bang pop pop
When the mind goes
Bang bang pop pop
Where does the moment stop?
Bang pop pop
Oh-way-oh

Bang pop pop
When does this searchin stop?
Bang bang pop pop
When the mind goes
Bang bang pop pop
Where does the moment stop?
Bang pop pop


(mp3) bang pop (fool's gold remix) by free energy (via my old kentucky blog)


and here's the video for the original:

in which rogue wave is more than just "eyes"

so, editing is such a tiring process. writing is easy - the words scramble to escape, to find life outside of a mind. but, as with all births, they arrive messy. revisions and edits take three times the amount of time it takes to put them on paper the first time around, but they are necessary.

just recently, i deleted large chunks of a particular story. words i liked, ones that had stubbornly stayed put through previous revisions. but now they are gone, left in existence only in my head and in a file that doesn't often see the light of day.

but this is how it goes.

interestingly, the music i listen to while writing and then editing and revising changes. i'll hold so tightly to a particular song, feel like it embodies the characters and scenes so strongly, and yet, when it comes time to slash and burn, the song falls away and a new one takes over.

salesman at the day of the parade is one of these songs. here's the scene that it helped inspire:

The streets, so crowded around us, fade into silence as it begins to snow once more. Each snowflake is so filled with promise. What will happen to it? Will it lie on the road? In a tree? Be made into a snowman? Snowball? Will some little child catch it on their tongue? Will it be carried home on someone’s shoulders or in their hair? After it melts and evaporates and goes upward once more, and then makes the trek back down, will it look the same? Or will it be different?
Does it even have a choice?

rogue wave is best known for eyes, but, as nice as that song is, there are much better ones to appreciate.

I'm so sorry for what I've done
I went in to it like a man
Now the only thing on my skin
Is some beach blown images

With every corner
That you have
You don't miss me
But I really don't mind
Don't float around girl
It'll be alright

And the hardest thing that I've done
Is laying down with someone
And the idiots in Detroit
Well they've all gone sour...
Everyone lies

With every corner
That you have
You really don't miss me
But I really don't mind
Don't float around girl
It'll be alright
It'll be alright, tomorrow

I'm so sorry for what I've done

(mp3) salesman at the day of the parade by rogue wave (via MFR)

album review: nomad by anna rose

so, i introduced you to anna rose awhile back with her single whispers: a slice of laid back folk colored with 70's rock and the blues. now, i want to bring to your attention her first full-length album, nomad.

anna rose is the daughter of oscar winning composer alan menken (gen xers, you will remember him best as the guy that brought us the little mermaid), but her music is worlds away from her father's. each song has a bit of bluesy rock to string it along, from the very beautiful gillian, which is about the death of a friend and mentor to the sassy kiss-off i'll be gone. you got it for free and all i have to say bring about a pop vibe, whereas the four corners leans more towards rock. anna rose doesn't stick to one musical theme, which makes the album interesting. each song, while incorporating all of the blues-folk-pop-rock threads, uses each theme differently. what i liked was that, when listened straight through, they don't meld together in a blur of same soundedness - they keep the listener intrigued by changing things up.

here's picture, which has a lot of 70's rock influences:

picture your life
picture it now
is it what you imagined?
is it all you thought it would be?
we're all grown in strong houses
we're all brought up in the dark
rubbing the pick-up sticks together
all we need to see is the spark
then we're out of the dark

open your eyes
see it for what it is
because you just see the image
but the brilliant colors stir within the sky
and eyes

so little gunslinger
tell me what's on your back
what are you fighting for?
when are you going to attack?
how did it come to this?
it all started with one little start
now the flames are massive
can we go back to the start?

picture your life
picture it now
in cinematic black
in a dark shaded room
build up your strong houses
raise your children in the dark
watch them rub those sticks together
watch them see the spark
we're out of the dark
we're out of the dark

(mp3) picture by anna rose

here's the official video:

in which a song is a little ray of sunshine

so,
sometimes life does things you don't expect
out of the blue
hits you on the side of the head
and you wonder...
why
good or bad
but really,
it's all about the journey,
isn't it?
moving forward is the only thing
you can do
whether you want to or not
but sometimes,
you really, really want to.

and life's good like that.

(find this print on etsy)

Yesterday when you were young
Everything you needed done was done for you
Now you do it on your own
But you find you're all alone, what can you do?

You and me walk on
'Cause you can't go back now

You know there will be days
When you're so tired
That you can't take another step
The night will have no stars
And you'll think you've gone as far
As you will ever get

well you and me walk on
'Cause you can't go back now

And yeah, yeah go where you want to go
Yeah, yeah, be what you want to be
If you ever turn around, you'll see me

I can't really say
Why everybody wishes they were somewhere else
But in the end the only steps that matter
Are the ones you take all by yourself

And you and me walk on
yeah, you and me walk on
'Cause you can't go back now
walk on, walk on, walk on
you can't go back now.

(mp3) can't go back now by the weepies (via the world in a paper cup)

in which a song defies labelling

so, when i first heard the following song, i didn't know what to think. i knew i liked it, but what is it? alternative? techno? hip-hop? trip-hop? something else entirely?

so many songs nowadays seem to be these sorts of hybrids. and it's kind of cool that music is heading in this direction, turning into undefinable things. inspired flight is one of the bands who is doing this, and it's the chemicals is one of the songs that defies description. i particularly like the end - so beautiful.

lean back and let this one flow all over you:

There's a universe inside us, all made of liquid.
It's a case of inner space, chemically dependent.
Through the veins to the brain, a whole solar system,
And I'm a jet-setting space cadet experimenting.
Yep, I vow to this, I'm an alchemist.
I mix emotion up with thoughts and the outcome's bliss.
Inhibition ain’t my boss, without a doubt take risks.
The price of progress with that cost? I'll dish out them chips
And chip at it like a sculptor carve out a wish.
I'm on a chemical romance and life is a trip
A slow dance with destiny, and her hands I grip.
She quick, but I chase; freeze, tag, I'm it.
I keep running like a fountain, so deep as a crater is wide, high as a mountain goat.
And I'm immune to this altitude, got a high tolerance for substance. How bout you?
They say its abuse; I call it a skill rapid a river run through me like a chemical spill, no harm.
When I'm induced I live at will, whoa, the mind-marsh mellows like some lucky charms.
Blast off from an armchair into space.
So fast, so high got a sprinter's face.
So vast, vanilla skies, I can smell and taste the chemicals in them depending on the prescription.
Self-medicated chemists mixing up some inventions,
Experimenting and tripping,
Entering new dimensions.
With my eyes wide shut, intuition and vision,
Side effects make you feel like you're flying and swimming all at the same time, man
I ain't lying, no fibbing.
Throughout all found a wisdom broken down like a prism.
I think I'm neighbors with the man on the moon.
Chemistry's like music and I am in tune.

Come and lay, I'll kiss you on the eyelids,
then we'll sleep and dream good things.
Don't you know it is just the chemicals
in our brain that cause us pain?

(mp3) it's the chemicals by inspired flight (via potholes in my blog)

and, as a special treat:

(mp3) i won't let you down by inspired flight (via the audio muffin)

in which four girls from japan kick it

so, i wanted to share a fun song for these dog days of summer. the suzan is a quirky girl band from japan who have a kicking punk beat that makes it hard to sit still.






their music is just a smidge lo-fi, but it only enhances the fun. the current single is called home:

(mp3) home by the suzan (via daydream station)

here's a video for you know nothing:





and for the very addictive high and low:

in which i reminisce about the great music in JH movies

so, as a member of gen x, i am, of course, a devotee of the pantheon of john hughes films. sixteen candles? awesome.





pretty in pink? swoon-worthy (despite the hideousness of andie's dress - c'mon, you thought the same thing! she butchered iona's dress!).



ferris bueller? who didn't idolize the guy? (note, picture below is obviously not of the person we all loved!)



weird science? hilarious.



and breakfast club? well - i think every gen xer feels a kinship to that movie (except, AHEMAHEM, a certain person who will remain nameless who STILL HASN'T WATCHED IT, for shame, how can you even stand it??).


anyway, one of the great things about john hughes movies is the music. oingo boingo was featured in a number of them (geez, i really need to blog about the greatness that was boingo). who can forget spandau ballet's true in sixteen candles? or happy birthday by altered images? if you leave by OMD in pretty in pink? oh yeah by yello at the end of ferris bueller, when rooney gets on the bus and has the girl offer him warm gummie bears? and, of course, (don't you) forget about me by simple minds in the breakfast club as bender walks away. classic.

well, death cab for cutie covered that last one, and i thought it worthy enough to share. it's a live recording, so the quality isn't best, but ben & co. does a good job bringing it. go ahead and take a listen. and then maybe go and watch one of the JH greats and revel in their awesomeness.

Hey, hey, hey ,hey
Ohhh...

Won't you come see about me?
I'll be alone, dancing you know it baby

Tell me your troubles and doubts
Giving me everything inside and out and
Love's strange so real in the dark
Think of the tender things that we were working on

Slow change may pull us apart
When the light gets into your heart, baby

Don't You Forget About Me
Don't Don't Don't Don't
Don't You Forget About Me

Will you stand above me?
Look my way, never love me
Rain keeps falling, rain keeps falling
Down, down, down

Will you recognise me?
Call my name or walk on by
Rain keeps falling, rain keeps falling
Down, down, down, down

Hey, hey, hey, hey
Ohhhh.....

Don't you try to pretend
It's my feeling we'll win in the end
I won't harm you or touch your defenses
Vanity and security

Don't you forget about me
I'll be alone, dancing you know it baby
Going to take you apart
I'll put us back together at heart, baby

Don't You Forget About Me
Don't Don't Don't Don't
Don't You Forget About Me

As you walk on by
Will you call my name?
As you walk on by
Will you call my name?
When you walk away

Or will you walk away?
Will you walk on by?
Come on - call my name
Will you all my name?

I say :
La la la...

(mp3) (don't you) forget about me (simple minds cover) by death cab for cutie (via schrödinger's blog)

in which a picture says it all

so, i stumbled across this comic and had to post it, because i know the feeling well. right? right?

(found at muzjiks radio)

the following song, however, sounds great no matter who listens to it or how you listen to it. my personal favorite by bob. often covered but nothing - let me repeat, NOTHING - lives up to this original.

Old pirates, yes they rob I
Sold I to the merchant ships
Minutes after they took I
From the bottomless pit
But my hand was made strong
By the hands of the almighty
We forward in this generation
Triumphantly

Won't you help to sing
These songs of freedom
'cause they all I ever had
Redemption songs, redemption songs

Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery
None but ourselves can free our minds
Have no fear for atomic energy
'cause none of them can stop the time
How long shall they kill our prophets
While we stand aside and look
Some say it's just a part of it
We've got to fulfill the book

Won't you help to sing
These songs of freedom
'cause they all I ever had
Redemption songs, redemption songs

(mp3) redemption song by bob marley and the wailers (via music for kids who cant read good)