30 Day Challenge, Day 1, Honorable Mentions

Yeah, I'm going to be this fucking self-indulgent and think you care about the other possible favorite songs. At least I'm not clogging up your Facebook feed with 4 youtubes a day.

3 honorable mentions/runner-ups:
Jawbox - Mirrorful
Yeah, Savory is a harder, more killer song. But this is straight out of Seth's life, 1996. On Alternative Nation or 120 Minutes, I bought the song, and it changed my music listening life forever, adding a whole new dimension or two. As important as Hum in making me realize the reward for finding music that touched me was well worth the effort.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXi_TtLSg-Y

Jaga Jazzist - Swedgenborgske Rom
Whenever I'm asked about favorite songs I think of this and mention it. It's compositional, not rock, but I love shit like this. This song almost makes me teary even when I'm just listening to it as I write about it.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IAWY87KK_LI


Shiner - Cake
The only reason Shiner didn't make the top song is because I can't even fucking pick. This band was my other nickname in law school, besides feldspar. I tore up their shirt playing football. I went to their shows before I had show fans in chicago and met cool people because of it. I was at this show posted below. This is how they originally ended their most rocking record, Lula Divinia. I suppose I could have picked "The Simple Truth" from The Egg.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EltPc9hmHJw

Time to take tally a bit...

The Z-A Music Project is now at K. So many huge finds related to this project, stuff I downloaded but never really digested because there's only so much time for so much music.

In alphabetical order, the finds:

Kylesa
LCD Soundsystem's Sound of Silver (didn't get into them til the new one came out)
Lilys
Lungfish
Mastodon
Nirvana (this is really just a "shit, this stuff is still so listenable" thing)
Pitchblende
Refused (never cared for them, but my musical tastes have gone more this way now)
Season to Risk (one of the KC bands I forgot to check out years ago)

The Music Project

I've been listening, at home only, to my music collection from Z-A. Playing all the stuff I really know or want to check out but haven't gotten around to it enough. Started August 1. It's now October 12th, so that 74 days.

Just getting to Sunny Day Real Estate (but all The... bands are in the Ts) so I think it's safe to say we're looking at a year long project. So much music appreciation has come out of this, and the counterbalancing daytime listening.

I touched the ocean...

I touched the pacific ocean. Besides any spray that hit my face while on a cruise 10 years ago, this was the first time I got to drag my fingers through it, and walk on its sand.

The Besnard Lakes - Like the Ocean, like the Innocent, Pt. 1 and 2

Mix: Binary Songs

All songs are 01, 10, 11 on their respective album.
In order:

11 – Swamped and Agitated
1 – Yppah – Son Saves the Rest
10 – Bear in Heaven – Casual Goodbye
10 – Jawbox – Empire of One
1 – The Drift – If Wishes were like Horses
10 – The Dismemberment Plan – 8 ½ Minutes
10 – Hood You’re Worth the Whole World
1 – Grizzy Bear – Alligator (choir version)
1 – Four Tet – Angel Echoes
11 – No Age – Ripped Knees
11 – Obits – Milk Cow Blues
10 – Red Red Meat – Taxidermy Blues in Reverse
1 – Rex - Gathered

August 2010 Mix

1. Young Widows - Swamped and Agitated
2. Destroyer - The Fox and the Hound
3. The Timeout Drawer - What Looked like Morning was the Beginning of Endless Night
4. Wolf Parade - Cloud Shadow on the Mountain
5. The Joggers - Since You're Already Up
6. Untied States - Not Fences, Mere Masks
7. The xx - Shelter
8. Pinebender - Broadcast All Your Dreams
9. Atlas Sound - Quick Canal (w/Laetitia Sadier)
10.Eddy Current Suppression Ring - Which Way to Go
11.Dan Deacon - Snookered
12.Radiohead - Fog
13.Crystal Antlers - A Thousand Eyes
14.Disappears - Old Friend

Pitchfork Roundup

Pitchfork was exhausting, and now I know why. Saw 15-20 minutes of 25 acts, plus a few I just heard/tried to ignore because I wasn't close enough or the band sounded lousy.

Friday:
El-P - the 20 minutes I saw were pretty entertaining, and I'm wary of hip hop I dont know and hip hop live in general.
Liars - fantastic
Robyn - I didn't know I liked Swedish pop this much, or had a thing for tiny swedish blondes
Modest Mouse - good stuff. not enough old stuff though.

Saturday:
Free Energy - not my cup of tea, but apparently good dudes
Netherfriends - a little boring
Real Estate - maybe the second biggest surprise for me, I really dug this set
Delorean - good for a festival, need to check out their music more
Titus Andronicus - bad ass punk live
Raekwon - not bad. special Wu Tang guests would have made this better.
Jon Spencer Blues Explosion - they're still alive, and they still rock out
Wolf Parade - not impressed with the live sound, but I do like their record
Bear in Heaven - amazing. fresh noisy takes on a lot of 80s music (Duran Duran, Phil Collins drumming, etc)
LCD Soundsystem - dance party, Seth DANCE Party even

Sunday:
Alla - well crafted psych rock, ethereal vocals
Cave - psych-kraut mind numbing jams
Best Coast - another pleasant surprise - Patsy Cline over indie rock
Washed Out - seriously chill, too chill for a festival, but I want to listen to this at home
Local Natives - really good set, wish I'd been a bit more focused
Lightning Bolt - brought some clarity to records
St. Vincent - at times, I really liked what I heard, but some boring songs too
Major Lazer - insane show, but do they even do much mc-wise? the music was good.
Big Boi - best hip hop of the weekend, awesome Outkast songs thrown in
Pavement - fantastic

A Cover...

Not sure the world needs it, but I'm slowly composing/rearranging/covering Lay Lady Lay, just me and the guitar for now (since I have nothing to record with and no legitimate percussion; drums turned into side tables don't count). It's going to be very Bedhead/Codeine-like.

In my head, no. 1

Woke up kind of groggy to noise from the neighbors (very common occurence any given day between 615 and about 9). Started playing guitar while watching Lost Season 5, just messing around with a riff in my head, that, eventually, as the coffee cleared my mind, I realized was a Sebadoh riff.

Sebadoh - Mind Reader

Not even in my top 10 Sebadoh songs, and not even a band I love, but I really dig the way this song starts.

Nirvana

Find it remarkable how certain Nirvana songs (tonight, "Radio Friendly Unit Shifter") are shockingly still relevant, and should be influencing a lot more bands than my other favorites from 1994.

P.S. Going to post more, seriously, need to make room in my brain for a lot of other thoughts.

The Top Records of 2009 (in my world)

I'm just listing everything I abused the play button with this year. Another way to put it would be they were all 8.0s or better in my own little bubble of the world. This list is going to grow, because some records I've just acquired and yet to give enough listens to for making this list. Everyone should do something similar so I can then make a list in March of all the stuff I missed and discovered through friends. In no particular order...
* = Chicago-based band, I'm biased...

1.The Antlers – Hospice
2.The Poison Arrows – First Class, and Forever *
3.Japandroids – Post-Nothing
4.Crystal Antlers – Tentacles
5.Sunset Rubdown – Dragonslayer
6.The Dirty Projectors – Bitte Orca
7.Grizzly Bear – Veckatimest
8.Dan Deacon – Bromst
9.Cymbals Eat Guitars – Why There Are Mountains
10.Obits – I Blame You
11.From Monument to Masses – On Little Known Frequencies
12.Tortoise – Beacons of Ancestorship *
13.Clues – s/t
14.Yppah – They Know What Ghost Know
15.Califone – All My Friends are Funeral Singers *
16.Baroness – Blue Record
17.Wooden Shjips – Dos
18.Cave – Psychic Psummer *
19.Russian Circles – Geneva *
20.Disappears – Live over the Rainbo *
21.Isis – Wavering Radiant
22.Sleepy Sun – Embrace
23.The Mercury Program – chez viking
24.Slaraffenland – We're On Your Side

Ten Albums...

Not my official Best of 2009, but definitely my favorite new stuff over the past few months.

1. Sunset Rubdown - Dragonslayer

2. Japandroids - Post-Nothing

3. The Dirty Projectors - Bitte Orca

4. Clues - s/t

5. Crystal Antlers - Tentacles

6. Disappears - Live over the Rainbo

7. Yppah - They Know What Ghost Know

8. The Poison Arrows - First Class, and Forever

9. From Monument to Masses - Of Little Known Frequencies

10. Cymbals Eat Guitars - Why There are Mountains

Honorable Mentions:

Wooden Shjips - Dos

Antlers - Hospice

Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix

Dan Deacon - Bromst

Random Observations and a Mix made in August

If you find some Raw Jock Power, you can do a pump double max. That's what Clif said anyway.

Safety first.
No sweets before dinner.
You have to grow your beard, before you can trim it.

All words of wisdom.

My new TV and I are pretty happy together (we were very happy together, then I spent a week not watching her and she got jealous).

1. Tortoise - It's All Around You
2. Wilderness - It's All the Same
3. Califone - Wade in the Water
4. Radiohead - Nude
5. The Timeout Drawer - There is so much love here...
6. Channels - Mayday
7. Yppah - Southern Sky Tells
8.Clues - remember severed head
9. Elbow - Mexican Standoff
10. The Drift - Smoke Falls
11. Japandroids - Heart Sweats
12. Calexico - Guero Canelo
13. Red Sparowes - A Brief Moment of Clarity...
14. Deerhunter - Nothing Ever Happened
15. Grizzly Bear - While You Wait for the Others

Randomly Assembled Mix, ides of July...

1. Sunset Rubdown - Us Ones in Between
2. Tortoise - Prepare Your Coffin
3. Tortoise - Tin Cans & Twine
4. Wilderness - Beautiful Alarms
5. The American Analog Set - Come Home Baby Julie Come Home
6. Andrew Bird - Fake Palindromes
7. Bon Iver - Skinny Love
8. Bottomless Pit - Dead Man's Blues
9. Buring Airlines - Song with No Words
10. Calexico - All Systems Red
11. Caribou - Niobe
12. Elbow - Mexican Standoff
13. Faraquet - Conceptual Separation of Self
14. From Monument to Masses - Deafening
15. The Poison Arrows - Future Wine

For July, a new Top Ten....

Bands I've been listening to a lot/shall be listening to a lot:
(in no particular order)

1. Obits
2. Bottomless Pit (slightly disappointing show on Sunday though)
3. Disappears
4. Cave
5. The Poison Arrows
6. Tortoise - just got Beacons of Ancestorship
7. Elbow
8. Channels
9. Constantines
10.Grizzly Bear

Califone - Bottles and Bones (Shade and Sympathy)

Nervous john
Rescues all the whores
Bleeding nose and all
Taste
of metal
When you’re hit straight on
Frozen dimes and
throwing flashes
Clouds of angels liquored pink and
underage
Steal your sweet decline
This is the longest
goodbye
Loose breaks on
A one eyed continental
Engine willing
Interior stained
China rattles
wish
The cold pacific shallows
Spells and fits
resurrected
Calls you in
Forget your sweet decline
This is the longest goodbye
Aching to get your pocket
picked
Bottles and bones shade and sympathy
Kick the
glass out of your path
Calls you in
Traps for your
fingers
Fire for your mouth
Stones for your passage
Brass for your jaded
Underneath the baking clouds and
hardening starless skies
Lick your collarbone clean
And repeat.

A Top Ten...

Ten Bands I'm Listening to A Lot...

1. Maserati
2. Wilderness
3. Red Sparowes
4. Bottomless Pit
5. Obits
6. Constantines (especially the cover of "Islands in the Stream" with Feist)
7. The National
8. Elbow
9. Miles Davis (think Bitches' Brew)
10.Beulah