84.
artist:jars of clay
album:the eleventh hour
the eleventh hour was the last jars of clay album that i really had any interest in. i bought a few after this, but never really bothered with them.
somewhere during my senior year of college i just kind of fell apart. i don't know what triggered it, if anything, or maybe it was everything, but i just didn't care about anything anymore and kind of withdrew from everything i was previously involved in and interested in.
i was still doing our radio show on Saturday mornings, but was otherwise a ghost around the station. i was bitter and frustrated at the way things had ended the previous year, and really felt nothing but disdain for almost everyone at the station. I'm surprised sometimes at how much i still resent some of those people. its a terrible way to feel and I'm working on it. that happened so long ago i should have been over it years ago.
i stopped going to church, too. we had been going to a Baptist church my junior year, but once i dyed my hair purple and pierced my ears and nose and tongue by senior year i got more dirty looks than i cared to have to deal with, so that was the end of that. i started spending my weekends at home with my parents and just driving up to college on Saturday mornings for the radio show. this is something else I'm sure i need to get past, but when a body of people that are supposed to exude God's love treat you in a less-than-loving way, its hard to put it behind...at least for me. its something that i need to make a conscious effort to work past.
i don't know what any of that really has to do with this album other than through all of that stuff, i was still spinning jars of clay pretty regularly. i have definitely gotten away from the "Christian Music" scene, for sure, but i do still occasionally pull out a jars Cd or a five iron disk. those two bands made a big enough (and importantly, not-too-cheesy) impact on me during my "CCM-or-nothing" phase that ill still listen.
I'm actually going to see jars in a few days. I'm not sure how excited i am about it. i don't know any of the multitude of opening bands. i haven't listened to a new jars album since 2005 and even then it was only once or twice. I'm sure ill take lots of pictures though, and have some thoughts on the show one way or the other when i return. keep your eyes peeled.
Sunday, March 27, 2011
365 project" if i go crazy then will you still call me superman?"
83.
artist:3 doors down
album:the better life
this CD came out on my 20th birthday. that really has no bearing on anything other than my thinking it has an interesting release date.
i remember the first time i heard "kryptonite." it was the same time that i heard stroke 9's "little black backpack" and i fell for both of these songs immediately. i was on my way home from college for a break and spent most of that time that i was home hanging out with Eric and Mike and some time with Josh. I'm betting that is why this CD makes me think of Military men, but regardless of the reason, it does.
my town is one of those towns were everyone joins the service in some regard. two of my brothers did. most of the guys that i grew up with did. its almost like its the logical next step for boys in this town (some of the girls did, too, but not too many.)
i used to listen to this CD a lot when i first got it. i was totally in love with it, and it was more or less all i wanted to listen to for at least six months. i did eventually grow out of it, and of that genre of music altogether, but i never got rid of the CD. I'm glad that i didn't. I'm finding that in doing this project I'm both maturing in my musical outlook and regressing in my musical taste. neither of these is a bad thing.
"duck and run" and "be like that" are two of my favorite tracks on this album, along with "kryptonite" of course. i don't think there are any songs on here that i particularly dislike. i may not want to include every one on a mix tape, but i don't especially want to skip over any while listening to the CD, either.
I'm still so astounded at how listening to a song or album can act just like a time machine, taking me back to a place in my life that i haven't thought about in forever. the particular memory brought back by this album was one of a bunch of us sitting in a truck going somewhere or another. i was in the backseat of the cab and the boys decided to play a game with me, only i wasn't aware. they flipped through the radio, trying to find a song that i didn't know the lyrics too, yet i kept singing along to everything that popped up. they got frustrated and stopped when this song came on, and all of us were singing by that point. they told me later about their game and how crazy i am for knowing all the songs on the radio. I'm glad to say that I'm not quite as good at that game now as i was 11 years ago, but i still know a lot more than i realize. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not, at this point.
artist:3 doors down
album:the better life
this CD came out on my 20th birthday. that really has no bearing on anything other than my thinking it has an interesting release date.
i remember the first time i heard "kryptonite." it was the same time that i heard stroke 9's "little black backpack" and i fell for both of these songs immediately. i was on my way home from college for a break and spent most of that time that i was home hanging out with Eric and Mike and some time with Josh. I'm betting that is why this CD makes me think of Military men, but regardless of the reason, it does.
my town is one of those towns were everyone joins the service in some regard. two of my brothers did. most of the guys that i grew up with did. its almost like its the logical next step for boys in this town (some of the girls did, too, but not too many.)
i used to listen to this CD a lot when i first got it. i was totally in love with it, and it was more or less all i wanted to listen to for at least six months. i did eventually grow out of it, and of that genre of music altogether, but i never got rid of the CD. I'm glad that i didn't. I'm finding that in doing this project I'm both maturing in my musical outlook and regressing in my musical taste. neither of these is a bad thing.
"duck and run" and "be like that" are two of my favorite tracks on this album, along with "kryptonite" of course. i don't think there are any songs on here that i particularly dislike. i may not want to include every one on a mix tape, but i don't especially want to skip over any while listening to the CD, either.
I'm still so astounded at how listening to a song or album can act just like a time machine, taking me back to a place in my life that i haven't thought about in forever. the particular memory brought back by this album was one of a bunch of us sitting in a truck going somewhere or another. i was in the backseat of the cab and the boys decided to play a game with me, only i wasn't aware. they flipped through the radio, trying to find a song that i didn't know the lyrics too, yet i kept singing along to everything that popped up. they got frustrated and stopped when this song came on, and all of us were singing by that point. they told me later about their game and how crazy i am for knowing all the songs on the radio. I'm glad to say that I'm not quite as good at that game now as i was 11 years ago, but i still know a lot more than i realize. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not, at this point.
365 project:"autumn blew the quilt right off the perfect bed she made"
82.
artist:iron & wine
album:the passing afternoon
i feel like I'm cheating by using this "album" in my project, but then i realized that i really cant cheat, because i make the rules. this is a CD from my collection, and that's the basic premise of this whole deal, so its within the spirit of the project and fine to use.
this EP only has three songs on it. "passing afternoon" is a track from the album our endless numbered days, and the other two songs would i guess be considered B-side tracks to the album. "communion cups & someone's coat" is a fan favorite as far as the band's catalog of music goes. i don't know that id say that its one of my favorites, but its by no means a bad song, either. i just have others that i think rank higher.
the other song, "dearest forsaken" really doesn't do anything for me. its not a bad song. its not a great song. it just is a song on an EP. i guess id consider it more background music than anything else. Sam Beam writes incredible lyrics, but aside from a few lines in passing afternoon nothing really grabs me like some of his other songs.
actually, background music is how id describe this EP as a whole. it doesn't do anything to make me stop what I'm doing and pay attention, but i don't mind hearing it, either. it was nice to have playing as i went about doing my laundry and beading safety pins for my next project.
artist:iron & wine
album:the passing afternoon
i feel like I'm cheating by using this "album" in my project, but then i realized that i really cant cheat, because i make the rules. this is a CD from my collection, and that's the basic premise of this whole deal, so its within the spirit of the project and fine to use.
this EP only has three songs on it. "passing afternoon" is a track from the album our endless numbered days, and the other two songs would i guess be considered B-side tracks to the album. "communion cups & someone's coat" is a fan favorite as far as the band's catalog of music goes. i don't know that id say that its one of my favorites, but its by no means a bad song, either. i just have others that i think rank higher.
the other song, "dearest forsaken" really doesn't do anything for me. its not a bad song. its not a great song. it just is a song on an EP. i guess id consider it more background music than anything else. Sam Beam writes incredible lyrics, but aside from a few lines in passing afternoon nothing really grabs me like some of his other songs.
actually, background music is how id describe this EP as a whole. it doesn't do anything to make me stop what I'm doing and pay attention, but i don't mind hearing it, either. it was nice to have playing as i went about doing my laundry and beading safety pins for my next project.
365 project:"im still alone, still alone like the day i was born, born and brought into this world"
81.
artist:straylight run
album:the needle the space
i was so excited for this album to come out. the band gave away the mp3 of "the miracle that never came" a few weeks before the release and i was hooked. i really loved that song a lot. and then i got the album and hated it. i was so disappointed in it because it didn't sound like their first album, which i was disappointed with because it didn't sound like their original EP.
i listened to the needle the space a few times and then shelved it. i just wasn't feeling it at all. i was dealing with a lot of personal stuff in my life at that time and listening to straylight run was not helping the situation, so that was the end of that.
we went to the zoo yesterday. on the way down we listened to straylight and a few of these songs popped up, so i decided to revisit it. I'm actually kind of glad i did, because i like the CD a lot more than i remember. i really love Michelle's voice, so I'm not sure why i haven't checked out destry. at first i thought it was maybe because i was bitter at her for leaving straylight, but as far as i can tell that was the catalyst that led to the demise of straylight and the reunion of the original lineup of taking back Sunday, which i am very happy about, so it can be that. who knows, really. i guess ill have to suck it up and check them out at some point.
there are songs on this album that i could do without, for sure. i am not a big fan of "soon we'll be living in the future" at all. if i was near the CD player when it came on, id have probably skipped it, but i wasn't, and am lazy today, so i left it alone. but there are also songs that i love. "the miracle that never came" and "still alone" actually rank as some of my all-time favorite straylight run songs.
i can absolutely see myself pulling this CD out again over the summer and listening to it as I'm driving around doing whatever it is i do.
artist:straylight run
album:the needle the space
i was so excited for this album to come out. the band gave away the mp3 of "the miracle that never came" a few weeks before the release and i was hooked. i really loved that song a lot. and then i got the album and hated it. i was so disappointed in it because it didn't sound like their first album, which i was disappointed with because it didn't sound like their original EP.
i listened to the needle the space a few times and then shelved it. i just wasn't feeling it at all. i was dealing with a lot of personal stuff in my life at that time and listening to straylight run was not helping the situation, so that was the end of that.
we went to the zoo yesterday. on the way down we listened to straylight and a few of these songs popped up, so i decided to revisit it. I'm actually kind of glad i did, because i like the CD a lot more than i remember. i really love Michelle's voice, so I'm not sure why i haven't checked out destry. at first i thought it was maybe because i was bitter at her for leaving straylight, but as far as i can tell that was the catalyst that led to the demise of straylight and the reunion of the original lineup of taking back Sunday, which i am very happy about, so it can be that. who knows, really. i guess ill have to suck it up and check them out at some point.
there are songs on this album that i could do without, for sure. i am not a big fan of "soon we'll be living in the future" at all. if i was near the CD player when it came on, id have probably skipped it, but i wasn't, and am lazy today, so i left it alone. but there are also songs that i love. "the miracle that never came" and "still alone" actually rank as some of my all-time favorite straylight run songs.
i can absolutely see myself pulling this CD out again over the summer and listening to it as I'm driving around doing whatever it is i do.
Friday, March 25, 2011
why i think rebecca black has us all beat.
by now you have surely seen that "Friday" video, and probably six different remixes, and since its Friday, I'm sure you've read the song lyrics on your friends' facebook updates and tweets, too. Rebecca black is EVERYWHERE right now. whether her song sucks or is the best thing ever recorded is meaningless here, the fact of the matter is everyone knows who she is. (unless you are those dudes in the geico commercial...you know, the ones that live under a rock?)
i myself have bashed Rebecca Black. i think the song has the ability to make my ears bleed if listened to for long enough. i believe i made a statement last week along the lines of "instead of bombing Libya, why don't we just pump in Rebecca Black's 'friday' song at a high volume on repeat until they act right." but here is the thing, while I'm sitting at my computer desk bitching to whomever will listen, she is going to the bank. i know I've personally showed the video to several people with the intention, of course, of laughing at it, but laughing, crying, ripping our ears out, we are still giving her and ark music factory the attention that they set out to receive and I'm still poor.
do i think its the best idea to let a 13 year old girl put herself out there like that? not especially. i definitely wouldn't allow my child to become that vulnerable, but as she is not my child, that was obviously not my decision. i do know that it didn't work out well for girls like Brittney Spears and Christina Aguilera. but her parents gave ark music factory a bunch of money to let her live out her dream, and shes going to make a return on that cash.
its already been a week since the video went viral. by next week it'll be nothing more than a few Internet memes floating around. she will have had her 15 minutes of fame. all i can hope is that all of the negative attention doesn't affect her psyche too badly. 13 is hard enough without the entire world talking about how much they hate you.
i myself have bashed Rebecca Black. i think the song has the ability to make my ears bleed if listened to for long enough. i believe i made a statement last week along the lines of "instead of bombing Libya, why don't we just pump in Rebecca Black's 'friday' song at a high volume on repeat until they act right." but here is the thing, while I'm sitting at my computer desk bitching to whomever will listen, she is going to the bank. i know I've personally showed the video to several people with the intention, of course, of laughing at it, but laughing, crying, ripping our ears out, we are still giving her and ark music factory the attention that they set out to receive and I'm still poor.
do i think its the best idea to let a 13 year old girl put herself out there like that? not especially. i definitely wouldn't allow my child to become that vulnerable, but as she is not my child, that was obviously not my decision. i do know that it didn't work out well for girls like Brittney Spears and Christina Aguilera. but her parents gave ark music factory a bunch of money to let her live out her dream, and shes going to make a return on that cash.
its already been a week since the video went viral. by next week it'll be nothing more than a few Internet memes floating around. she will have had her 15 minutes of fame. all i can hope is that all of the negative attention doesn't affect her psyche too badly. 13 is hard enough without the entire world talking about how much they hate you.
365 project:"open up your eyes, you can see the flames of your wasted life. you should be ashamed"
80.
artist:counting crows
album:august and everything after
this might be the CD with which i have the most history. i owned the cassette, and bought it shortly after it came out back in 1993. i remember sitting in the passenger's seat of my mom's dodge caravan waiting at the elementary school for my younger brothers and sister to come out of the building and hearing Mr. Jones for the first time. i remember hearing it subsequent times and getting really excited every time. i saved up some cash that i made babysitting and went to the store with dad and bought the cassette. i was so excited to own it.
this is an album that i really like to sit and listen to from beginning to end, especially on a darker, moodier day. it starts with silence, ends with silence, and the stories it tells in between that silence are ones that i have carried with me for the last 18 years. not to mention the fact that throughout all of this time, the song Anna begins has resounded with me as one of the most haunting, heartbreaking, beautiful bodies of work i have ever had the pleasure of hearing. i would almost guarantee that my love of dark, sad, moody songs comes directly from my love for that song.
I'm listening to this version currently, and it is giving me chills. if a song ever had the power to break my heart and twist my insides into knots, its this one. this video has no picture, but i think that in this case it would take away from the emotion in the song.
obviously i didn't listen to this album on cassette today. at some point during college i was hanging out on south street with some of my friends. i distinctly remember being with kaite and Jaime, so i must have been with some of my roommates, too. at any rate, there was a record store along the street, and we stopped in as one of our last stops of the night (i remember it being dark when we were leaving. i also remember someone in a leather jacket sitting on the steps). as i was poking around through the Cd's i stumbled upon a used copy of august and everything after. i paid about five dollars for it, as it had been out 8 or 9 years by that point, and another 9 or 10 years later i had to skip a few songs and through a few other parts of the CD because its so scratched up and loved in some spots that it will no longer play. it might be time to invest in another copy.
counting crows are one of my top three favorite bands. this is my favorite album of theirs. by that reasoning, its one of my favorite albums. i don't think there is a part of the entire record that I'm not totally in love with. they are my favorite songs to hear live. i think counting crows were the first band that i learned to love without my parents' influence (they have a lot of influence on my musical taste) and therefore they will always have a special place in my heart.
artist:counting crows
album:august and everything after
this might be the CD with which i have the most history. i owned the cassette, and bought it shortly after it came out back in 1993. i remember sitting in the passenger's seat of my mom's dodge caravan waiting at the elementary school for my younger brothers and sister to come out of the building and hearing Mr. Jones for the first time. i remember hearing it subsequent times and getting really excited every time. i saved up some cash that i made babysitting and went to the store with dad and bought the cassette. i was so excited to own it.
this is an album that i really like to sit and listen to from beginning to end, especially on a darker, moodier day. it starts with silence, ends with silence, and the stories it tells in between that silence are ones that i have carried with me for the last 18 years. not to mention the fact that throughout all of this time, the song Anna begins has resounded with me as one of the most haunting, heartbreaking, beautiful bodies of work i have ever had the pleasure of hearing. i would almost guarantee that my love of dark, sad, moody songs comes directly from my love for that song.
I'm listening to this version currently, and it is giving me chills. if a song ever had the power to break my heart and twist my insides into knots, its this one. this video has no picture, but i think that in this case it would take away from the emotion in the song.
obviously i didn't listen to this album on cassette today. at some point during college i was hanging out on south street with some of my friends. i distinctly remember being with kaite and Jaime, so i must have been with some of my roommates, too. at any rate, there was a record store along the street, and we stopped in as one of our last stops of the night (i remember it being dark when we were leaving. i also remember someone in a leather jacket sitting on the steps). as i was poking around through the Cd's i stumbled upon a used copy of august and everything after. i paid about five dollars for it, as it had been out 8 or 9 years by that point, and another 9 or 10 years later i had to skip a few songs and through a few other parts of the CD because its so scratched up and loved in some spots that it will no longer play. it might be time to invest in another copy.
counting crows are one of my top three favorite bands. this is my favorite album of theirs. by that reasoning, its one of my favorite albums. i don't think there is a part of the entire record that I'm not totally in love with. they are my favorite songs to hear live. i think counting crows were the first band that i learned to love without my parents' influence (they have a lot of influence on my musical taste) and therefore they will always have a special place in my heart.
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
365 project: "and its alright and ill be fine, dont worry bout this heart of mine."
79.
artist:the wreckers
album:stand tall, look pretty
Jessica Harp and Michelle Branch got my attention with "leave the pieces." i wasn't a huge Michelle branch fan when she was doing her solo thing, or at least i got bored very easily with it, but this wreckers stuff had a lot more soul and i was able to connect to it on a level that Michelle's poppy stuff would never reach.
i haven't really had any life-changing events happen while listening to this CD, or anything that is really worth noting. i actually pulled it out back in the fall because the episode of "one tree hill" in which the wreckers come to perform in some capacity in tree hill was on. i wont get into the specifics, but you can watch the video if you'd like.
today, though, one of the songs that i don't really remember paying much attention to before really caught my ear. "now I'm grown and all alone and wishing i was with you tonight. cause i can guarantee things are sweeter in Tennessee." if you know anything about me at all you know that its my goal to get my butt down to Tennessee to live there, even if its just for a little while. i am enamoured with that state and every summer that I've been there I've left a little bit more of my heart, and these days id venture to guess more of my heart is down there than is still up here in Jersey.
the song crazy people makes me laugh every time i hear it. its another one that i forget exists until it starts to play, and then i giggle because, while its a beautiful song, the lyrics are a bit out there. exactly as they should be. it also has a bit of a "goodbye earl" feel to it which i kind of love more than i should.
the girls are both currently staying focused on their solo careers from everything that I've seen. all reports say that they aren't split up, just that the wreckers is a side project for both of them. i would be a happy camper if these two ladies decided to record another album together. i love stand still, look pretty a lot more than i realize.
artist:the wreckers
album:stand tall, look pretty
Jessica Harp and Michelle Branch got my attention with "leave the pieces." i wasn't a huge Michelle branch fan when she was doing her solo thing, or at least i got bored very easily with it, but this wreckers stuff had a lot more soul and i was able to connect to it on a level that Michelle's poppy stuff would never reach.
i haven't really had any life-changing events happen while listening to this CD, or anything that is really worth noting. i actually pulled it out back in the fall because the episode of "one tree hill" in which the wreckers come to perform in some capacity in tree hill was on. i wont get into the specifics, but you can watch the video if you'd like.
today, though, one of the songs that i don't really remember paying much attention to before really caught my ear. "now I'm grown and all alone and wishing i was with you tonight. cause i can guarantee things are sweeter in Tennessee." if you know anything about me at all you know that its my goal to get my butt down to Tennessee to live there, even if its just for a little while. i am enamoured with that state and every summer that I've been there I've left a little bit more of my heart, and these days id venture to guess more of my heart is down there than is still up here in Jersey.
the song crazy people makes me laugh every time i hear it. its another one that i forget exists until it starts to play, and then i giggle because, while its a beautiful song, the lyrics are a bit out there. exactly as they should be. it also has a bit of a "goodbye earl" feel to it which i kind of love more than i should.
the girls are both currently staying focused on their solo careers from everything that I've seen. all reports say that they aren't split up, just that the wreckers is a side project for both of them. i would be a happy camper if these two ladies decided to record another album together. i love stand still, look pretty a lot more than i realize.
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
365 project:"i watched his wildest dreams come true, and not one of them involving you"
78.
artist:paramore
album:riot
paramore never impressed me live. I've seen them a few times, and i just cant really stand Hayley's voice when its not auto-tuned. i think she screams more than she sings, and i always wonder how long it'll take before my ears start to bleed.
i carried this opinion around for a while, and actually still do. i saw them last summer and was still very unimpressed with their performance. however, a trip to bonnaroo of all places changed my mind about their recorded music.
Mandy, Christa and i were in the car, and we had XM radio, so we found the alternative station and listened to that more or less the entire trip to Tennessee and back. we had a few Cd's with us, but we had no ipod hookups so we were very limited in our music for the trip.
this particular station played "crushcrushcrush" every fifth song, so we heard it a lot. early in the trip, id switch if off, but as we got farther south, and especially on the trip home, i got tired of trying to find a suitable substitute so we just left it alone. by the end of the trip i found myself saying "what would you say if i said i liked paramore?" of course Mandy told me i was being stupid and that was that.
but the thing was, i did develop a liking for the band as the trip progressed; at least their recorded stuff. i didn't really mind driving around today listening to riot, though i kept the volume a lot lower than i normally would, as i didn't want to draw attention to myself and my terrible taste in music.
i don't know that paramore is going to rise to the top of my list of bands anytime soon, but they are a fun listen when you want something poppy.
artist:paramore
album:riot
paramore never impressed me live. I've seen them a few times, and i just cant really stand Hayley's voice when its not auto-tuned. i think she screams more than she sings, and i always wonder how long it'll take before my ears start to bleed.
i carried this opinion around for a while, and actually still do. i saw them last summer and was still very unimpressed with their performance. however, a trip to bonnaroo of all places changed my mind about their recorded music.
Mandy, Christa and i were in the car, and we had XM radio, so we found the alternative station and listened to that more or less the entire trip to Tennessee and back. we had a few Cd's with us, but we had no ipod hookups so we were very limited in our music for the trip.
this particular station played "crushcrushcrush" every fifth song, so we heard it a lot. early in the trip, id switch if off, but as we got farther south, and especially on the trip home, i got tired of trying to find a suitable substitute so we just left it alone. by the end of the trip i found myself saying "what would you say if i said i liked paramore?" of course Mandy told me i was being stupid and that was that.
but the thing was, i did develop a liking for the band as the trip progressed; at least their recorded stuff. i didn't really mind driving around today listening to riot, though i kept the volume a lot lower than i normally would, as i didn't want to draw attention to myself and my terrible taste in music.
i don't know that paramore is going to rise to the top of my list of bands anytime soon, but they are a fun listen when you want something poppy.
Monday, March 21, 2011
365 project"i am colorblind. coffee black and egg white. pull me out from inside."
77.
album:dead and dreaming:tribute to counting crows
artist:various
the counting crows are one of my top three favorite bands ever. i am a pretty major fan of indie music. i should love a compilation of indie bands covering my favorite band, right? that's what i thought, too.
i haven't listened to this album in a really long time, so i thought today would be as good a day as any. when i woke up this morning it was thundering and lightening, and the rain was beating down harder than I've seen in a while...perfect counting crows weather.
i had it on more or less as background noise while i was driving around today, and i don't know if it was the weather or the songs or what, but I've been in a terrible mood all day. i have tried hard to keep from taking it out on everyone around me, but there have been a few today that have pushed me just far enough to make me lose my cool. mostly, though, I've just been sitting around being miserable.
we all went out to the bar tonight to celebrate an important milestone in my friend's life. on the way there i started skipping through the songs at the end and then just turning the CD off altogether. i could no longer take these renditions of these songs that i love so much. hell, even the renditions of the songs i hate were terrible. i can appreciate a good song even if i don't care for it, and nothing on this album struck me as good.
at least now i know why it was tucked away and hasn't been touched in a while. this CD will surely find its way back to the abyss.
album:dead and dreaming:tribute to counting crows
artist:various
| 1. | Rydia - Angels Of Silence | ||||
| 2. | The Rocket Summer - High life | ||||
| 3. | Number One Fan - Holiday In Spain | ||||
| 4. | Between The Buried And Me - Colorblind | ||||
| 5. | Boys Night Out - Walkaways | ||||
| 6. | Punchline - Round Here | ||||
| 7. | Houston Calls - Einstein On A Beach | ||||
| 8. | Hidden In Plain View - Mr. Jones | ||||
| 9. | Bayside - A Long December | ||||
| 10. | The Junior Varsity - Raining In Baltimore | ||||
| 11. | The International Language - Rain King | ||||
| 12. | As Tall As Lions - Children In Bloom |
the counting crows are one of my top three favorite bands ever. i am a pretty major fan of indie music. i should love a compilation of indie bands covering my favorite band, right? that's what i thought, too.
i haven't listened to this album in a really long time, so i thought today would be as good a day as any. when i woke up this morning it was thundering and lightening, and the rain was beating down harder than I've seen in a while...perfect counting crows weather.
i had it on more or less as background noise while i was driving around today, and i don't know if it was the weather or the songs or what, but I've been in a terrible mood all day. i have tried hard to keep from taking it out on everyone around me, but there have been a few today that have pushed me just far enough to make me lose my cool. mostly, though, I've just been sitting around being miserable.
we all went out to the bar tonight to celebrate an important milestone in my friend's life. on the way there i started skipping through the songs at the end and then just turning the CD off altogether. i could no longer take these renditions of these songs that i love so much. hell, even the renditions of the songs i hate were terrible. i can appreciate a good song even if i don't care for it, and nothing on this album struck me as good.
at least now i know why it was tucked away and hasn't been touched in a while. this CD will surely find its way back to the abyss.
Sunday, March 20, 2011
roadtrip mix!!
as you may or may not be aware, i am embarking on a road trip in a week and a half, and it occurred to me that tonight was probably the best time to put together a mix, as i have a lot going on between now and the day i leave.
i made a road trip mix a little while back, but it had a few fatal flaws, so i wanted to revise it for this trip. i actually am still missing one song, but this will do just fine anyway, i think.
i made a road trip mix a little while back, but it had a few fatal flaws, so i wanted to revise it for this trip. i actually am still missing one song, but this will do just fine anyway, i think.
the mix can be downloaded at http://www.mediafire.com/?scexl50dagp3n7b if you are so inclined.
365 project:"wanna put my tender heart in a blender, watch it spin around to a beautiful oblivion"
76.
artist:eve 6
album:self-titled
i am taking a road trip in a week and a half. i decided that since I'm wide awake tonight with nothing to do that i would work on a road trip mix because i only have access to the CD player on the trip and i need to not go crazy on the six hour drive. that makes sense, right?
As i was setting up a new playlist on itunes, i noticed that i already had one entitled "roadtrip." i forgot that i had made a roadtrip mix for the last trip i took so i figured id look to see what was on it. its actually not half-bad, except for two songs in the middle that just don't fit. i remember wanting to replace those songs with "open road song" by eve 6 and "running down a dream" by tom petty. i didn't know where my tom petty CD was, and my eve 6 cassette disappeared longer ago than id care to admit to having owned it, so i never got around to it. i figured tonight was as good a night as any to fix it up, and since I've just re-acquired eve 6's self-titled album, i decided to listen to it.
instantly I'm amazed at how much of the album i remember, but more so at how much of it i forget. there is a song on here called showerhead that i don't remember at all. the lyrics are very graphic, so I'm wondering if i blocked them out of my brain over the last XX years.
this CD reminds me of two people-Brielle because she gave it to me originally and Ben because he wrote about it to me while i was away in college. Brielle sent me away to college with a few tapes to keep me sane, and one of my favorites was the one that had this album on one side and pearl jam's ten on the other. i played this cassette all of the time. Brielle was my hero, and actually, now that I'm thinking about it, she is the one that introduced me to grunge, which id consider a big leap in the molding of my musical tastes.
shortly after my freshman year of college began, i received a card in my mailbox from Ben. (yes, i went to college a long time ago. we didn't use email or anything like that to communicate. we called on the phone and mailed things via the US postal service.) i was pretty stoked because for most of my life up until that point i had a pretty big crush on him. well, through that point, i guess. the crush didn't dissolve until id been away from him for some time. at any rate, in this card he wrote a bunch of random things including asking me if id heard the song about putting your heart in a blender. of course i had, but because he wrote it in there, i associated the song with him from that point on.
every once in a while its nice to dig up and oldie but goodie. this was one of those whiles.
artist:eve 6
album:self-titled
i am taking a road trip in a week and a half. i decided that since I'm wide awake tonight with nothing to do that i would work on a road trip mix because i only have access to the CD player on the trip and i need to not go crazy on the six hour drive. that makes sense, right?
As i was setting up a new playlist on itunes, i noticed that i already had one entitled "roadtrip." i forgot that i had made a roadtrip mix for the last trip i took so i figured id look to see what was on it. its actually not half-bad, except for two songs in the middle that just don't fit. i remember wanting to replace those songs with "open road song" by eve 6 and "running down a dream" by tom petty. i didn't know where my tom petty CD was, and my eve 6 cassette disappeared longer ago than id care to admit to having owned it, so i never got around to it. i figured tonight was as good a night as any to fix it up, and since I've just re-acquired eve 6's self-titled album, i decided to listen to it.
instantly I'm amazed at how much of the album i remember, but more so at how much of it i forget. there is a song on here called showerhead that i don't remember at all. the lyrics are very graphic, so I'm wondering if i blocked them out of my brain over the last XX years.
this CD reminds me of two people-Brielle because she gave it to me originally and Ben because he wrote about it to me while i was away in college. Brielle sent me away to college with a few tapes to keep me sane, and one of my favorites was the one that had this album on one side and pearl jam's ten on the other. i played this cassette all of the time. Brielle was my hero, and actually, now that I'm thinking about it, she is the one that introduced me to grunge, which id consider a big leap in the molding of my musical tastes.
shortly after my freshman year of college began, i received a card in my mailbox from Ben. (yes, i went to college a long time ago. we didn't use email or anything like that to communicate. we called on the phone and mailed things via the US postal service.) i was pretty stoked because for most of my life up until that point i had a pretty big crush on him. well, through that point, i guess. the crush didn't dissolve until id been away from him for some time. at any rate, in this card he wrote a bunch of random things including asking me if id heard the song about putting your heart in a blender. of course i had, but because he wrote it in there, i associated the song with him from that point on.
every once in a while its nice to dig up and oldie but goodie. this was one of those whiles.
Saturday, March 19, 2011
365 project: "why'd you have to go and make things so complicated?"
75.
artist:Avril lavigne
album:let go
yes, i own this album. yes, i like Avril. bite me.
let's talk about sk8er boi for a second. i don't know what it is about that song, but I'm FORCED to play air-guitar every single time i hear it. it doesn't matter where i am-work, school, home, in the car driving 80mph on the highway, the air-guitar comes out. its a crazy thing, really.
when the song started playing in the car today, i laughed because it reminded me of something from my senior year of college. my brother and i went to school fairly close together, so i went up there a lot. there was one particular trip that sticks out in my mind, however.
both Timmy and i had just received our income tax returns, and in college we didn't have bills, so that meant shopping spree!! we went out to dinner at ruby Tuesday's and had the best waitress ever, and then went across the shopping plaza to best buy to blow some cash. i cant remember if i already had this CD by then, or if i bought it in the store, but i do remember torturing my brother's roommate Dave with the song sk8er boi. i believe i put it on repeat for a bit on the drive back to their dorm just to annoy him. at any rate, i still think of him whenever this song comes on.
the rest of the album is decent. its pop music, so its not got a lot of depth or anything like that, but for an escape from reality into bubble-gum land it was as good as anything else you could think of. i enjoyed myself today while listening to this CD, and no blood came from my ears, so that is a good sign. i particularly like the songs I'm with you, things ill never say and wishing my life away.
overall, this is a fun album to listen to but not one that id be inclined to take with me on a road trip. I'm sure it'll go back to sitting on the shelf for a while until i have the urge to sing along and play air-guitar to sk8er boi.
artist:Avril lavigne
album:let go
yes, i own this album. yes, i like Avril. bite me.
let's talk about sk8er boi for a second. i don't know what it is about that song, but I'm FORCED to play air-guitar every single time i hear it. it doesn't matter where i am-work, school, home, in the car driving 80mph on the highway, the air-guitar comes out. its a crazy thing, really.
when the song started playing in the car today, i laughed because it reminded me of something from my senior year of college. my brother and i went to school fairly close together, so i went up there a lot. there was one particular trip that sticks out in my mind, however.
both Timmy and i had just received our income tax returns, and in college we didn't have bills, so that meant shopping spree!! we went out to dinner at ruby Tuesday's and had the best waitress ever, and then went across the shopping plaza to best buy to blow some cash. i cant remember if i already had this CD by then, or if i bought it in the store, but i do remember torturing my brother's roommate Dave with the song sk8er boi. i believe i put it on repeat for a bit on the drive back to their dorm just to annoy him. at any rate, i still think of him whenever this song comes on.
the rest of the album is decent. its pop music, so its not got a lot of depth or anything like that, but for an escape from reality into bubble-gum land it was as good as anything else you could think of. i enjoyed myself today while listening to this CD, and no blood came from my ears, so that is a good sign. i particularly like the songs I'm with you, things ill never say and wishing my life away.
overall, this is a fun album to listen to but not one that id be inclined to take with me on a road trip. I'm sure it'll go back to sitting on the shelf for a while until i have the urge to sing along and play air-guitar to sk8er boi.
Friday, March 18, 2011
365 project:" no i don't hate you. don't want to fight you. Know i'll always love you but right now i just don't like you."
74.
artist:relient K
album:mmhmm
my job involves me being outside for the better part of the day, so i like to keep an eye on the weather, and we all get very excited when we are going to have a perfect day. all week long Friday's weather has been the topic of conversation-sunny with a high of 75. because i was at one point a rather big Relient K fan, hearing that forecast always makes me sing "sunny with a high of 75 since you took my heavy heart and made it light" so it was a no-brainer this morning on what album i would listen to.
a little while back, i covered their album the anatomy of tongue and cheek and my comments were less than glowing. my opinion of mmhmm, however, is totally different. I actually really love this album, and am not sure why i don't listen to it more.
before this album, Relient K was a bitty baby band, really. they were still "my" band. they were accessible and we had what i deemed to be a working relationship. they knew my name. i knew them. we coordinated on interviews and other fun and exciting things. Brandon and I emceed one of their shows in Ocean Grove. full surrender had played with them a bunch. it kind of seemed like they were always around for us and i liked that.
and then Be My Escape hit the airwaves and started getting airtime on MTV. i knew that there was going to be a big push behind this album, but i didn't know that it was going to make them into a household name so to speak, and that it would take away all of that accessibility. in hindsight, I'm sure this wasn't the only reason that we fell out of contact. most of the band roster switched. i left college and therefore the radio station. life got in the way of shows. but at the time, it felt like MTV was ruining one more thing for me.
This was about the point where i stopped listening to Relient K. maybe that was the wrong choice. i don't know. what i do know is that i didn't feel like they were the same band that i had grown to love, and i couldn't handle their "growing up" so to speak, so i just turned my backs on them.
when i was listening to that CD today, i found myself commenting quite a few times about how much i really like mmhmm. i think now that the weather is warmer ill have to find more time to listen. i cant really name a song on this album that i dislike, and my list of likes would more or less read just like the track listing, so it seems silly to post it. i was pleasantly surprised by this CD today.
my suggestion is that all of you go pull it out of your collection and give it a spin again and then tell me if you agree.
artist:relient K
album:mmhmm
my job involves me being outside for the better part of the day, so i like to keep an eye on the weather, and we all get very excited when we are going to have a perfect day. all week long Friday's weather has been the topic of conversation-sunny with a high of 75. because i was at one point a rather big Relient K fan, hearing that forecast always makes me sing "sunny with a high of 75 since you took my heavy heart and made it light" so it was a no-brainer this morning on what album i would listen to.
a little while back, i covered their album the anatomy of tongue and cheek and my comments were less than glowing. my opinion of mmhmm, however, is totally different. I actually really love this album, and am not sure why i don't listen to it more.
before this album, Relient K was a bitty baby band, really. they were still "my" band. they were accessible and we had what i deemed to be a working relationship. they knew my name. i knew them. we coordinated on interviews and other fun and exciting things. Brandon and I emceed one of their shows in Ocean Grove. full surrender had played with them a bunch. it kind of seemed like they were always around for us and i liked that.
and then Be My Escape hit the airwaves and started getting airtime on MTV. i knew that there was going to be a big push behind this album, but i didn't know that it was going to make them into a household name so to speak, and that it would take away all of that accessibility. in hindsight, I'm sure this wasn't the only reason that we fell out of contact. most of the band roster switched. i left college and therefore the radio station. life got in the way of shows. but at the time, it felt like MTV was ruining one more thing for me.
This was about the point where i stopped listening to Relient K. maybe that was the wrong choice. i don't know. what i do know is that i didn't feel like they were the same band that i had grown to love, and i couldn't handle their "growing up" so to speak, so i just turned my backs on them.
when i was listening to that CD today, i found myself commenting quite a few times about how much i really like mmhmm. i think now that the weather is warmer ill have to find more time to listen. i cant really name a song on this album that i dislike, and my list of likes would more or less read just like the track listing, so it seems silly to post it. i was pleasantly surprised by this CD today.
my suggestion is that all of you go pull it out of your collection and give it a spin again and then tell me if you agree.
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
365 project"they sell tennessee ham and strawberry jam and they dont lose any sleep at night-cause earl had to die!"
73.
artist:dixie chicks
album:fly
i was gathering my things today in order to go run all over south jersey on what i have termed my "payday errands" and walked over to the CD shelf to figure out what i was going to listen to today. i had three or four Cd's in hand when i decided out of the clear blue that i wanted to listen to the dixie chicks today. its been years since I've even given them a second thought, really, because, at least in my case, having a brother that is a soldier really makes me think very little of those who don't support the troops, and that was what i took away from all of that flack that they got a few years back.
but since id already bought their CD before all of that, it wouldn't make a licks worth of difference if i listened to it or not, really, since they already have my money, so i decided to bust it out.
my errand music, however, ended up something else entirely. i had Asher with me, and i also had the Phineas & Ferb soundtrack in my car, so we listened to that over and over and over as we bounced around paying bills, depositing checks, getting gas and going shopping (for him, of course.)
i went out to dinner later in the evening for whats becoming a pretty regular night, "whine and dine." on the way to the restaurant i performed a concert with the dixie chicks in my car. even though its been so long since I've listened to this album, some of the songs on it are ingrained in my brain, and i couldn't help but belt out the lyrics.
this entire album has a much grittier feel to it than the first release. ready to run and cowboy take me away have the same idea of escape and getting out there on ones own, but they just aren't as bubblegum as wide open spaces. all three of those songs deal with something i can absolutely relate to, though, which is getting out and getting on with life. that's probably why this CD called out to me today.
and who could forget goodbye earl? I've never heard abuse and murder in a more fun tone. there's something about dark subject matter and poppy choruses that just get me every time!
i cant concentrate enough tonight to finish this. i don't know if i have anything else to really even say, but I've done everything but write for the last half hour. i think I'm going to go lay in bed now and listen to the rain until i fall asleep.
until tomorrow~
artist:dixie chicks
album:fly
i was gathering my things today in order to go run all over south jersey on what i have termed my "payday errands" and walked over to the CD shelf to figure out what i was going to listen to today. i had three or four Cd's in hand when i decided out of the clear blue that i wanted to listen to the dixie chicks today. its been years since I've even given them a second thought, really, because, at least in my case, having a brother that is a soldier really makes me think very little of those who don't support the troops, and that was what i took away from all of that flack that they got a few years back.
but since id already bought their CD before all of that, it wouldn't make a licks worth of difference if i listened to it or not, really, since they already have my money, so i decided to bust it out.
my errand music, however, ended up something else entirely. i had Asher with me, and i also had the Phineas & Ferb soundtrack in my car, so we listened to that over and over and over as we bounced around paying bills, depositing checks, getting gas and going shopping (for him, of course.)
i went out to dinner later in the evening for whats becoming a pretty regular night, "whine and dine." on the way to the restaurant i performed a concert with the dixie chicks in my car. even though its been so long since I've listened to this album, some of the songs on it are ingrained in my brain, and i couldn't help but belt out the lyrics.
this entire album has a much grittier feel to it than the first release. ready to run and cowboy take me away have the same idea of escape and getting out there on ones own, but they just aren't as bubblegum as wide open spaces. all three of those songs deal with something i can absolutely relate to, though, which is getting out and getting on with life. that's probably why this CD called out to me today.
and who could forget goodbye earl? I've never heard abuse and murder in a more fun tone. there's something about dark subject matter and poppy choruses that just get me every time!
i cant concentrate enough tonight to finish this. i don't know if i have anything else to really even say, but I've done everything but write for the last half hour. i think I'm going to go lay in bed now and listen to the rain until i fall asleep.
until tomorrow~
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
panic! at the disco-vices & virtues-- first listen
i did not get around to listening to an album for the 365 project today, but i did spend some time listening to the new panic! at the disco album.
i first heard the single, as most of us did, a few weeks ago. i was actually really against listening to it, because i know the situation with the band and was pretty sure i wasn't going to like it at all. i like Brendon Urie enough, but i really thought that Ryan Ross was taking what i loved most about the band away with him when he walked out that door. i have always favored pretty.odd over a fever you cant sweat out, so this wasn't an unfounded worry.
i didn't really have an opinion on the single one way or the other after the first few listens. i was driving back to school one day after break and it came on the radio, and i found myself sitting in the parking lot listening to the rest of the song, and at that point i realized that i really liked the ballad of Mona Lisa and that there was a chance that i wouldn't hate this album.
Today (i believe), panic! started streaming their new album on their facebook, so i figured id give it a listen and see how it turned out. i was pleasantly surprised with the album. that doesn't say much since i went into this with fairly low expectations, but there were songs that i heard that i actually liked so much i took the time to comment to others about them. memories is my current favorite, but as i get to know the album better i can see that changing.
i think that timing is everything with the release of this album, at least for me. if we were heading into the colder part of the year i know i wouldn't give this album much thought, because winter is made for depressing music, not dancy stuff. however, since we are just starting to warm up and spring is right around the corner, i can see myself getting my hands on this album and driving around with the windows down and dancing at every stoplight.
if you are like me and scared to see what became of the band after half of them took off, please take my advice and check this album out. i think you will find that you are as into it as i am.
tracks to pay attention to:
the ballad of Mona Lisa
memories
ready to go(get me out of my mind)
Sarah smiles
tracks to avoid:
i honestly didn't find any that i disliked. this may change as time goes on, but i was really vibing on the whole album.
i first heard the single, as most of us did, a few weeks ago. i was actually really against listening to it, because i know the situation with the band and was pretty sure i wasn't going to like it at all. i like Brendon Urie enough, but i really thought that Ryan Ross was taking what i loved most about the band away with him when he walked out that door. i have always favored pretty.odd over a fever you cant sweat out, so this wasn't an unfounded worry.
i didn't really have an opinion on the single one way or the other after the first few listens. i was driving back to school one day after break and it came on the radio, and i found myself sitting in the parking lot listening to the rest of the song, and at that point i realized that i really liked the ballad of Mona Lisa and that there was a chance that i wouldn't hate this album.
Today (i believe), panic! started streaming their new album on their facebook, so i figured id give it a listen and see how it turned out. i was pleasantly surprised with the album. that doesn't say much since i went into this with fairly low expectations, but there were songs that i heard that i actually liked so much i took the time to comment to others about them. memories is my current favorite, but as i get to know the album better i can see that changing.
i think that timing is everything with the release of this album, at least for me. if we were heading into the colder part of the year i know i wouldn't give this album much thought, because winter is made for depressing music, not dancy stuff. however, since we are just starting to warm up and spring is right around the corner, i can see myself getting my hands on this album and driving around with the windows down and dancing at every stoplight.
if you are like me and scared to see what became of the band after half of them took off, please take my advice and check this album out. i think you will find that you are as into it as i am.
tracks to pay attention to:
the ballad of Mona Lisa
memories
ready to go(get me out of my mind)
Sarah smiles
tracks to avoid:
i honestly didn't find any that i disliked. this may change as time goes on, but i was really vibing on the whole album.
Sunday, March 13, 2011
365 project:"tell me what you thought about when you were gone and so alone. the worst is over, you can have the best of me."
72.
artist:the starting line
album:say it like you mean it
one of the really awesome things about this project is that while sometimes I'm stuck for an album to listen to, most of the time, the albums choose me. its been very interesting to see what my subconscious decides that i need to hear and how that plays out.
for a few weeks now my life has been very hectic, which in turn meant little time for making phone calls. i realized quickly that no one was calling me either, and that put the thought in my head "phones work both ways" which almost immediately morphed into "fate works both ways" which is a lyric from a goodnight's sleep. I decided at that point that it was time to listen to a starting line album...i had been trying to wait until it got warmer because the starting line equals summer to me, but i guess mid-sixties is warm enough.
i was going to listen to this CD a few days ago, but when i grabbed the case, it was empty. I have Cd's all over the place, so i figured it would turn up, that it was likely in the stack of Cd's that i pulled out of my old car that haven't found their homes yet, or that it was in the CD book that i have in my current car. Neither of these was the case, so i set out on a mission to find this elusive disk.
Ive been looking for it everywhere and have no idea where its gotten to. I'm sure that it is stuffed away inside another CD case, but I'm not going to sit down and go through 500+ Cd's to find it (though maybe this is a sign that its time i start putting stuff away...) so i did what any person in this day and age would do, and used an alternative method of retrieving the album.
after getting it situated, i left to drive up to my brother and sister-in-law's which is about a half-hour from home. this is actually just about the right amount of time i need to get through a standard pop-punk album so i was good to go. as i was driving away from my house, the opening lines to "up and go" made me smile. This album came out right before my senior year of college, and it was definitely a favorite during that year. I used to listen to it nearly non-stop, and it became kind of the anthem for the 6 block drive to school on the nights that my roommate Danny and I would drive in together.
I cant remember what got me started on the starting line. i don't remember if it was by way of a suggestion from someone else, or if id seen them perform and fallen in love. it might have even been due to chatter on absolutepunk. i really truly don't remember.
At any rate, its been a favorite of mine since day one, and that is why i cant find it now. it is one of those disks that i always want to take with me on long drives or listen to on a nice day or just have the need for on occasion, which makes it easy for me to misplace. I know that ill find it soon enough now that i have another copy, but that's okay by me. i have like four burned copies of deja entendu because i kept losing my original, and at this point its so scratched up it doesn't really play anyway. I'm sure the same could be said about say it like you mean it.
yes, this is my favorite starting line album. as the year goes on, ill get to the other ones, but this one is definitely my favorite. i had the pleasure of seeing the starting line's reunion show after their hiatus, and the songs from this album were the ones that i was most excited to hear. they are the ones that play on repeat in my head. there's actually a very good chance that this album ranks in my top ten ever, but that's so hard for me to really decide. its definitely up there, though.
if, for some reason, you have never taken the time to check out the starting line, now is the time to do it. the weather is getting warmer finally and i contend that this album is best listened to on full blast with the windows down and the wind in your hair. try to convince me otherwise.
artist:the starting line
album:say it like you mean it
one of the really awesome things about this project is that while sometimes I'm stuck for an album to listen to, most of the time, the albums choose me. its been very interesting to see what my subconscious decides that i need to hear and how that plays out.
for a few weeks now my life has been very hectic, which in turn meant little time for making phone calls. i realized quickly that no one was calling me either, and that put the thought in my head "phones work both ways" which almost immediately morphed into "fate works both ways" which is a lyric from a goodnight's sleep. I decided at that point that it was time to listen to a starting line album...i had been trying to wait until it got warmer because the starting line equals summer to me, but i guess mid-sixties is warm enough.
i was going to listen to this CD a few days ago, but when i grabbed the case, it was empty. I have Cd's all over the place, so i figured it would turn up, that it was likely in the stack of Cd's that i pulled out of my old car that haven't found their homes yet, or that it was in the CD book that i have in my current car. Neither of these was the case, so i set out on a mission to find this elusive disk.
Ive been looking for it everywhere and have no idea where its gotten to. I'm sure that it is stuffed away inside another CD case, but I'm not going to sit down and go through 500+ Cd's to find it (though maybe this is a sign that its time i start putting stuff away...) so i did what any person in this day and age would do, and used an alternative method of retrieving the album.
after getting it situated, i left to drive up to my brother and sister-in-law's which is about a half-hour from home. this is actually just about the right amount of time i need to get through a standard pop-punk album so i was good to go. as i was driving away from my house, the opening lines to "up and go" made me smile. This album came out right before my senior year of college, and it was definitely a favorite during that year. I used to listen to it nearly non-stop, and it became kind of the anthem for the 6 block drive to school on the nights that my roommate Danny and I would drive in together.
I cant remember what got me started on the starting line. i don't remember if it was by way of a suggestion from someone else, or if id seen them perform and fallen in love. it might have even been due to chatter on absolutepunk. i really truly don't remember.
At any rate, its been a favorite of mine since day one, and that is why i cant find it now. it is one of those disks that i always want to take with me on long drives or listen to on a nice day or just have the need for on occasion, which makes it easy for me to misplace. I know that ill find it soon enough now that i have another copy, but that's okay by me. i have like four burned copies of deja entendu because i kept losing my original, and at this point its so scratched up it doesn't really play anyway. I'm sure the same could be said about say it like you mean it.
yes, this is my favorite starting line album. as the year goes on, ill get to the other ones, but this one is definitely my favorite. i had the pleasure of seeing the starting line's reunion show after their hiatus, and the songs from this album were the ones that i was most excited to hear. they are the ones that play on repeat in my head. there's actually a very good chance that this album ranks in my top ten ever, but that's so hard for me to really decide. its definitely up there, though.
if, for some reason, you have never taken the time to check out the starting line, now is the time to do it. the weather is getting warmer finally and i contend that this album is best listened to on full blast with the windows down and the wind in your hair. try to convince me otherwise.
Saturday, March 12, 2011
365 project:"the kids dont stand a chance"
71.
artist:vampire weekend
album:vampire weekend
i am a very stubborn person in every aspect of my life, and so when it comes to new music, i have a really hard time accepting other people telling me that i need to listen to something (which i know is very ironic because I'm the first one to push music on other people) so the whole vampire weekend thing is still a bit of a mystery to me.
i was down at bonnaroo with some of my friends from college, and we had set up our campsite and decided to head over to centeroo to see what was good. we had been over there for a while, and decided to go settle in near one of the stages, because there was this band playing opening night that Chris thought i NEEDED to hear. he seemed to think that id be in love with them and that i would be very angry at myself if i didn't see them. we all sat down on our blanket, some members of the group took part in some of bonnaroo's delicacies, and we waited.
we were back rather far from the stage, so i couldn't see the band that well, but i remember that it was dusk and that i danced my booty off. i was just so into these dudes on stage, and it became the most important mission for me when i got back to jersey to buy their CD. (this wasn't hard at all, i picked it up in target on sale for 9.99. yes, that is a strange thing to remember, but don't judge.)
i listened to this CD nonstop for about a month. i forced this band down everyone else's throat. (everyone else being Nicole, really, because Mandy was with me and most of my other friends live in Internet-land so they weren't close enough to be forced into listening.) Nicole actually really liked it, and still plays it all of the time, while I've grown bored of it ages ago and really haven't paid much attention to it in a while.
one other notable story about this CD is that for a while it was the go-to soundtrack for any of the random nonsensical road trips that Nicole and i would find ourselves taking. i remember once instance with a bicycle helmet that i wont go into further here, but you can imagine that when it comes to me and an ill-fitting child-sized bicycle helmet, humor ensued.
artist:vampire weekend
album:vampire weekend
i am a very stubborn person in every aspect of my life, and so when it comes to new music, i have a really hard time accepting other people telling me that i need to listen to something (which i know is very ironic because I'm the first one to push music on other people) so the whole vampire weekend thing is still a bit of a mystery to me.
i was down at bonnaroo with some of my friends from college, and we had set up our campsite and decided to head over to centeroo to see what was good. we had been over there for a while, and decided to go settle in near one of the stages, because there was this band playing opening night that Chris thought i NEEDED to hear. he seemed to think that id be in love with them and that i would be very angry at myself if i didn't see them. we all sat down on our blanket, some members of the group took part in some of bonnaroo's delicacies, and we waited.
we were back rather far from the stage, so i couldn't see the band that well, but i remember that it was dusk and that i danced my booty off. i was just so into these dudes on stage, and it became the most important mission for me when i got back to jersey to buy their CD. (this wasn't hard at all, i picked it up in target on sale for 9.99. yes, that is a strange thing to remember, but don't judge.)
i listened to this CD nonstop for about a month. i forced this band down everyone else's throat. (everyone else being Nicole, really, because Mandy was with me and most of my other friends live in Internet-land so they weren't close enough to be forced into listening.) Nicole actually really liked it, and still plays it all of the time, while I've grown bored of it ages ago and really haven't paid much attention to it in a while.
one other notable story about this CD is that for a while it was the go-to soundtrack for any of the random nonsensical road trips that Nicole and i would find ourselves taking. i remember once instance with a bicycle helmet that i wont go into further here, but you can imagine that when it comes to me and an ill-fitting child-sized bicycle helmet, humor ensued.
365 project:"despair will ravage you"
70.
artist:saves the day
album:stay what you are
i ignored this band for far too long. it took a few releases, and for a song from this album to get attention and airplay on the radio and MTV for me to even give them a glance. i was young and stupid. as i was pulling away from my house tonight i turned the volume way up and just started singing along at the top of my lungs. i haven't listened to this album in ages and it still elicits that kind of response from me. i don't know why i stopped listening to stay what you are. maybe i played it out when i first bought it, because i did spin this disk an awful lot. i honestly cant say now why i stopped but i think its going to be hard for me to take it out of the CD player tomorrow when its time to listen to something else.
I'm trying to think if i have any good stories to go along with this album. i feel like there should be something from the Chris era in my life, but nothing is coming to mind. i suppose i don't have to have a story to go along with every album i cover over the course of this year, but its going to be boring to just say' "hey, i listened to this, the end." I'm struggling with the fact that i spent so much time listening to this album and don't really have anything to show for it.
even if i don't have any old stories to tell, usually something happens during the day that relates to the album I've chosen. that isn't even the case today. i just pulled a CD case off of the shelf and ran out of the house to take care of some things tonight. i mean, tonight was the first time I've seen or really talked to my best friend in nearly three weeks, but that doesn't relate to the album much, since its mostly about hate and destroying body parts.
I'm going to stop rambling about nothing now, because this is becoming more pointless by the second. I'm going to have to be sure i have a story for an album before i pick it off of the shelf, i suppose.
artist:saves the day
album:stay what you are
i ignored this band for far too long. it took a few releases, and for a song from this album to get attention and airplay on the radio and MTV for me to even give them a glance. i was young and stupid. as i was pulling away from my house tonight i turned the volume way up and just started singing along at the top of my lungs. i haven't listened to this album in ages and it still elicits that kind of response from me. i don't know why i stopped listening to stay what you are. maybe i played it out when i first bought it, because i did spin this disk an awful lot. i honestly cant say now why i stopped but i think its going to be hard for me to take it out of the CD player tomorrow when its time to listen to something else.
I'm trying to think if i have any good stories to go along with this album. i feel like there should be something from the Chris era in my life, but nothing is coming to mind. i suppose i don't have to have a story to go along with every album i cover over the course of this year, but its going to be boring to just say' "hey, i listened to this, the end." I'm struggling with the fact that i spent so much time listening to this album and don't really have anything to show for it.
even if i don't have any old stories to tell, usually something happens during the day that relates to the album I've chosen. that isn't even the case today. i just pulled a CD case off of the shelf and ran out of the house to take care of some things tonight. i mean, tonight was the first time I've seen or really talked to my best friend in nearly three weeks, but that doesn't relate to the album much, since its mostly about hate and destroying body parts.
I'm going to stop rambling about nothing now, because this is becoming more pointless by the second. I'm going to have to be sure i have a story for an album before i pick it off of the shelf, i suppose.
Friday, March 11, 2011
365 project:'working for the church while your family dies"
69.
artist:arcade fire
album:neon bible
someone mentioned the other day that they believed that they were the only person that liked neon bible over the suburbs or funeral. id like to tell you, Scott, that you are not alone. i also like neon bible the best, though this definitely wasn't always the case.
right around the time that this album came out, everyone i knew on a particular forum was going ga-ga over it, so when i saw it in the library, i borrowed it, thinking id love it, too. NO. not even a little bit. i really just didn't get it. at all. i took the album back to the library and that was that. i wasn't going to bother with this band ever again, because this just wasn't my scene.
maybe a year or so later, a whole bunch of my friends were getting together in Pittsburgh for the weekend, and i drove out with a friend of mine named Eric. after a few hours of me harassing Eric's ears with the stuff i was listening to at the time (which if i recall correctly ended up being nothing but Brand New over and over again) he asked if he could pick a CD. he was actually driving at the time so i had no problems. the rule as far as I'm concerned is that whoever is driving should have final say in the music on the radio.
as i was listening to the tracks on the album, i decided i really liked it a lot, but i had no idea what it was that we were listening to. i didn't ask because I'm weird like that and would rather not know than ask a question of someone a lot of the time, so i just let it go. but i really liked whatever we were listening to, and tried to take note of some of the lyrics so that i could google it later.
as it turns out, later that night someone mentioned arcade fire and Eric laughed and said something about having listened to that on the drive in, and i found myself terribly bewildered. really? that was the same CD that i had decided a year ago that i hated?
i am always amazed to find out that i actually love something that i thought i hated, or conversely that i hate something that i once loved. this was one of the most shocking to me, though.
artist:arcade fire
album:neon bible
someone mentioned the other day that they believed that they were the only person that liked neon bible over the suburbs or funeral. id like to tell you, Scott, that you are not alone. i also like neon bible the best, though this definitely wasn't always the case.
right around the time that this album came out, everyone i knew on a particular forum was going ga-ga over it, so when i saw it in the library, i borrowed it, thinking id love it, too. NO. not even a little bit. i really just didn't get it. at all. i took the album back to the library and that was that. i wasn't going to bother with this band ever again, because this just wasn't my scene.
maybe a year or so later, a whole bunch of my friends were getting together in Pittsburgh for the weekend, and i drove out with a friend of mine named Eric. after a few hours of me harassing Eric's ears with the stuff i was listening to at the time (which if i recall correctly ended up being nothing but Brand New over and over again) he asked if he could pick a CD. he was actually driving at the time so i had no problems. the rule as far as I'm concerned is that whoever is driving should have final say in the music on the radio.
as i was listening to the tracks on the album, i decided i really liked it a lot, but i had no idea what it was that we were listening to. i didn't ask because I'm weird like that and would rather not know than ask a question of someone a lot of the time, so i just let it go. but i really liked whatever we were listening to, and tried to take note of some of the lyrics so that i could google it later.
as it turns out, later that night someone mentioned arcade fire and Eric laughed and said something about having listened to that on the drive in, and i found myself terribly bewildered. really? that was the same CD that i had decided a year ago that i hated?
i am always amazed to find out that i actually love something that i thought i hated, or conversely that i hate something that i once loved. this was one of the most shocking to me, though.
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
365 project:"you try to avoid it, but theres not a doubt, and there's one thing i can do nothing about"
68.
artist:taking back sunday
album:where you want to be
oh, taking back sunday, what a tumultuous relationship we have had over the years. when it comes to us, I've been the kid trying to fit in, loving you because everyone else did and then hating you for the same reason. i always said that your first album was the best because that's what i was told to say. I'm sorry, guys, ive been a follower.
here's the thing, though. tell all your friends is not my favorite taking back sunday album. where you want to be is my favorite of your records. yes, tayf has some of the best songs ever written by you as a collective group, but i really think that wywtb is the album that i find myself relating to.
this album came on the heels of the big split and after losing half of their lineup, the fact that they managed to put out anything half decent is important, but i was going through some lineup changes in my own life at the time, and i really related to the lyrics in this album more. lines like "to hell with you and all your friends, its on" and "why can't you just be happy?" really jumped right out at me given my situation at the time, and i was able to bond with these songs on a different level than the first album.
...slowdance on the inside, new American classic and number five with a bullet are three of my all-time favorite taking back sunday songs from any album ever in existence, and all three are on this album. i like the stripped down sound on slowdance and new American classic, and there is just something about songs that mention miles Davis that just grab a hold of me every single time.
i wasn't even going to give this album a try (you will hear me say that a few times during the course of the year. it happens a lot) but i happened to hear this photograph is proof about 70,000 times on MTV because it was the single from the spiderman soundtrack. i actually picked that album up, decided that the only song i really liked off of it was the taking back sunday song, so figured i might as well give the new album a chance. I'm very glad that i did.
when i am asked to recommend albums, i usually go with tayf when it comes to a tbs selection, but i really think that is because i want to keep this gem all to myself. it was really great to be able to hear these songs live when i got the chance to see tbs, and hearing john and will back in the band made them just as great if not better than anything on tayf.
artist:taking back sunday
album:where you want to be
oh, taking back sunday, what a tumultuous relationship we have had over the years. when it comes to us, I've been the kid trying to fit in, loving you because everyone else did and then hating you for the same reason. i always said that your first album was the best because that's what i was told to say. I'm sorry, guys, ive been a follower.
here's the thing, though. tell all your friends is not my favorite taking back sunday album. where you want to be is my favorite of your records. yes, tayf has some of the best songs ever written by you as a collective group, but i really think that wywtb is the album that i find myself relating to.
this album came on the heels of the big split and after losing half of their lineup, the fact that they managed to put out anything half decent is important, but i was going through some lineup changes in my own life at the time, and i really related to the lyrics in this album more. lines like "to hell with you and all your friends, its on" and "why can't you just be happy?" really jumped right out at me given my situation at the time, and i was able to bond with these songs on a different level than the first album.
...slowdance on the inside, new American classic and number five with a bullet are three of my all-time favorite taking back sunday songs from any album ever in existence, and all three are on this album. i like the stripped down sound on slowdance and new American classic, and there is just something about songs that mention miles Davis that just grab a hold of me every single time.
i wasn't even going to give this album a try (you will hear me say that a few times during the course of the year. it happens a lot) but i happened to hear this photograph is proof about 70,000 times on MTV because it was the single from the spiderman soundtrack. i actually picked that album up, decided that the only song i really liked off of it was the taking back sunday song, so figured i might as well give the new album a chance. I'm very glad that i did.
when i am asked to recommend albums, i usually go with tayf when it comes to a tbs selection, but i really think that is because i want to keep this gem all to myself. it was really great to be able to hear these songs live when i got the chance to see tbs, and hearing john and will back in the band made them just as great if not better than anything on tayf.
365 project:"these foolish games are tearing me apart"
67.
artist:jewel
album:pieces of you
yesterday on facebook i asked for a suggestion on which album should be the 365 album of the day, and the only suggestion i got was pieces of you by jewel. i suppose it was a good thing that i own that album. i used to have it on cassette back in 1995 when it came out, but since cassettes have become obsolete, i purchased it on vinyl...
(i just happened to notice on amazon.com that they vinyl sells for nearly 50 bucks a pop now. i KNOW i didn't pay that much for it. weird.)
i think there is a reason that i never bought this album as a CD. its boring. i listened to it last night as i fell asleep, and aside from the singles that got radio play in their time and that might turn up now on some adult rock (also known as elevator music) station, i just didn't care anymore.
at 15 i felt like it was edgy to listen to songs that dealt with subjects like suicide (which is what i take the song Adrien to be about. i could be wrong) and drug use (little sister). i just don't really get it now. i guess i didn't really at 15, either, if i thought it was edgy, but even at 15 i knew that bands like Nirvana and Red Hot Chili Peppers were overrated and not my bag at all, and there wasn't much out there alternatively. See, that's the thing about the grunge era...if you liked the music it was a fantastic time to be alive, but if you got bored quickly of the same stuff being repackaged with a different face, there wasn't much else going on.
Grunge was supposed to come and save us from the Boy Bands and synth-pop of the '80's but i LIKED the boy bands and synth pop. i didn't want to be saved. i listened to those new bands because everyone else did, but i didn't like it. i convinced myself i did, but even last night in the car i found myself getting very angry because two of my six radio presets were playing Nirvana jams and i just don't like Nirvana. i don't think that Kurt Cobain was any better than Donnie Wahlberg. what can i say? same idea, different package.
So, I listened to Jewel. I never bought another Jewel album after this one, though. i don't remember why i bought it again on vinyl, but I'm inclined to believe that it was for nostalgia's sake. I listened to it maybe a year or so ago and wasn't impressed and didn't want to be bothered with it again, but bothering with old albums again is the purpose of this project, so i took Kristina's suggestion and went with it...and what we ended up with was a huge diatribe about why i don't like grunge music.
artist:jewel
album:pieces of you
yesterday on facebook i asked for a suggestion on which album should be the 365 album of the day, and the only suggestion i got was pieces of you by jewel. i suppose it was a good thing that i own that album. i used to have it on cassette back in 1995 when it came out, but since cassettes have become obsolete, i purchased it on vinyl...
(i just happened to notice on amazon.com that they vinyl sells for nearly 50 bucks a pop now. i KNOW i didn't pay that much for it. weird.)
i think there is a reason that i never bought this album as a CD. its boring. i listened to it last night as i fell asleep, and aside from the singles that got radio play in their time and that might turn up now on some adult rock (also known as elevator music) station, i just didn't care anymore.
at 15 i felt like it was edgy to listen to songs that dealt with subjects like suicide (which is what i take the song Adrien to be about. i could be wrong) and drug use (little sister). i just don't really get it now. i guess i didn't really at 15, either, if i thought it was edgy, but even at 15 i knew that bands like Nirvana and Red Hot Chili Peppers were overrated and not my bag at all, and there wasn't much out there alternatively. See, that's the thing about the grunge era...if you liked the music it was a fantastic time to be alive, but if you got bored quickly of the same stuff being repackaged with a different face, there wasn't much else going on.
Grunge was supposed to come and save us from the Boy Bands and synth-pop of the '80's but i LIKED the boy bands and synth pop. i didn't want to be saved. i listened to those new bands because everyone else did, but i didn't like it. i convinced myself i did, but even last night in the car i found myself getting very angry because two of my six radio presets were playing Nirvana jams and i just don't like Nirvana. i don't think that Kurt Cobain was any better than Donnie Wahlberg. what can i say? same idea, different package.
So, I listened to Jewel. I never bought another Jewel album after this one, though. i don't remember why i bought it again on vinyl, but I'm inclined to believe that it was for nostalgia's sake. I listened to it maybe a year or so ago and wasn't impressed and didn't want to be bothered with it again, but bothering with old albums again is the purpose of this project, so i took Kristina's suggestion and went with it...and what we ended up with was a huge diatribe about why i don't like grunge music.
Monday, March 7, 2011
365 project"who will love you? who will fight? who will fall far behind?"
66.
artist:Bon Iver
album:For Emma, Forever Ago
i have wanted to listen to this album since i started the project, but could never find my CD anywhere. I was running out of time tonight, so i decided to see what was on the computer to listen to, and that popped up, so here we are.
a few years back, i was at a Kevin Devine show up in central jersey, and after the show we were standing around talking to him about whatever. either Jess or Rebecca asked him what he was listening to lately, and he said Bon Iver, and he couldnt sing high enough praises about this album. even after hearing kevin talk about how great it was, i still just didnt find time to check it out.
i honestly cant say that i remember the reason that i finally got around to checking out this disk. all i know is that it came along at the right time in my life. it is the saddest collection of songs i have ever heard, and i mean that in the best way possible. listening to this album makes my heart hurt. from start to finish, i can feel the tears welling up. Justin Vernon is really onto something.
there are some albums that i can only listen to at certian times. im sure that i would not want to listen to this album driving down the highway with the windows down on a bright, sunny summer day, just the same as i cant listen to something like the starting line on a cold, dreary winters day, which is perfect for for emma, forever ago.
today, while it wasnt cold or dreary, did end up being a perfect day for listening to this album. ive been in a bad place lately. i know the root of the problems, but i have no solutions, so it just keeps building up. sometimes i feel like im going to explode. othertimes i feel like a meltdown is eminent. i havent been in this mental state in quite some time, and things for the most part have been going well, so its really frustrating to end up back in this place again recently.
i have always been interested in how music affects our moods and who we are. i wrote my senior thesis on that subject. lately i have been trying to listen to stuff that is a little more upbeat to try to pull myself out of this funk, but at the end of the day the smile fades and i have to lay down and spend time inside my own brain, and its hard to hide yourself from yourself.
artist:Bon Iver
album:For Emma, Forever Ago
i have wanted to listen to this album since i started the project, but could never find my CD anywhere. I was running out of time tonight, so i decided to see what was on the computer to listen to, and that popped up, so here we are.
a few years back, i was at a Kevin Devine show up in central jersey, and after the show we were standing around talking to him about whatever. either Jess or Rebecca asked him what he was listening to lately, and he said Bon Iver, and he couldnt sing high enough praises about this album. even after hearing kevin talk about how great it was, i still just didnt find time to check it out.
i honestly cant say that i remember the reason that i finally got around to checking out this disk. all i know is that it came along at the right time in my life. it is the saddest collection of songs i have ever heard, and i mean that in the best way possible. listening to this album makes my heart hurt. from start to finish, i can feel the tears welling up. Justin Vernon is really onto something.
there are some albums that i can only listen to at certian times. im sure that i would not want to listen to this album driving down the highway with the windows down on a bright, sunny summer day, just the same as i cant listen to something like the starting line on a cold, dreary winters day, which is perfect for for emma, forever ago.
today, while it wasnt cold or dreary, did end up being a perfect day for listening to this album. ive been in a bad place lately. i know the root of the problems, but i have no solutions, so it just keeps building up. sometimes i feel like im going to explode. othertimes i feel like a meltdown is eminent. i havent been in this mental state in quite some time, and things for the most part have been going well, so its really frustrating to end up back in this place again recently.
i have always been interested in how music affects our moods and who we are. i wrote my senior thesis on that subject. lately i have been trying to listen to stuff that is a little more upbeat to try to pull myself out of this funk, but at the end of the day the smile fades and i have to lay down and spend time inside my own brain, and its hard to hide yourself from yourself.
Sunday, March 6, 2011
365 project:"how it got so cold our words just froze, we had to wait til summer to find out what was said"
65.
artist:motion city soundtrack
album:commit this to memory
it took me a really long time to listen to motion city soundtrack. i had been to shows that they were playing four or five times and still never heard them play...i seemed to always find something else to do to occupy that time. finally i was forced, as i went to the Nintendo fusion tour the year that MCS, fallout boy and the starting line were on the bill. there was no way i was getting around seeing them this time.
they were fun enough at that show, but i am stubborn as an ox, and still didn't care to pay any mind to their music, even though my friend was in LOVE with this band. a later that summer we went to warped tour and there was no one else playing worth seeing at that same time, so we went to see their set. their song "the future freaks me out" got stuck in my head that day and i was kind of hooked. for some reason, though, i didn't buy that album, instead going for the newest release they had at the time-commit this to memory.
what ended up happening was that i fell in love with the lyrics on this album and listened to it nonstop. AND i developed a crush on Justin Pierre and his crazy hair. to this day, i still have a bit of a crush on him, even though his hair has toned down a bit. i was actually thinking of him when i woke up this morning, because my hair definitely had a JP feel to it...i haven't been feeling well so i spent the better part of yesterday in bed. that tends to make my hair act out.
one of my favorite things about commit this to memory is that the lyrics paint such a clear picture in my mind. i can relate to the things he is saying in my own way, and i can see these images in my head. my favorite line of the entire album is from "time turned fragile."
Do you still believe in the stories told
To you by my friends and I
When you were four years-old?
How it got so cold, the words just froze
We had to wait 'til summer
To find out what was said
One of the best times that we had
i can see the cartoon version of this playing out, and it makes me smile every single time i hear the song.
i don't listen to this CD much anymore. it was one of the few things left on my ipod that i still listened to after about a year into the great ipod freeze, and i haven't really gotten over that yet. its the reason that i don't listen to a lot of my Cd's anymore, actually. i was stuck today for something, though, because i left all of my stuff in the house when i was trying to get the baby into the car (purse included, ugh) and this was the only CD in the car that fit the self-imposed qualifications for this project.
will i start listening again? probably not anytime soon. while the songs fit well in the life that i was living when i was listening to this album, things have changed and the CD just doesn't feel right anymore. i cant relate like i used to be able to. will i get rid of the album totally? no. ill keep it around and pull it out once in a while, when the time feels right, but it definitely wont be finding its way back into regular rotation.
artist:motion city soundtrack
album:commit this to memory
it took me a really long time to listen to motion city soundtrack. i had been to shows that they were playing four or five times and still never heard them play...i seemed to always find something else to do to occupy that time. finally i was forced, as i went to the Nintendo fusion tour the year that MCS, fallout boy and the starting line were on the bill. there was no way i was getting around seeing them this time.
they were fun enough at that show, but i am stubborn as an ox, and still didn't care to pay any mind to their music, even though my friend was in LOVE with this band. a later that summer we went to warped tour and there was no one else playing worth seeing at that same time, so we went to see their set. their song "the future freaks me out" got stuck in my head that day and i was kind of hooked. for some reason, though, i didn't buy that album, instead going for the newest release they had at the time-commit this to memory.
what ended up happening was that i fell in love with the lyrics on this album and listened to it nonstop. AND i developed a crush on Justin Pierre and his crazy hair. to this day, i still have a bit of a crush on him, even though his hair has toned down a bit. i was actually thinking of him when i woke up this morning, because my hair definitely had a JP feel to it...i haven't been feeling well so i spent the better part of yesterday in bed. that tends to make my hair act out.
one of my favorite things about commit this to memory is that the lyrics paint such a clear picture in my mind. i can relate to the things he is saying in my own way, and i can see these images in my head. my favorite line of the entire album is from "time turned fragile."
Do you still believe in the stories told
To you by my friends and I
When you were four years-old?
How it got so cold, the words just froze
We had to wait 'til summer
To find out what was said
One of the best times that we had
i can see the cartoon version of this playing out, and it makes me smile every single time i hear the song.
i don't listen to this CD much anymore. it was one of the few things left on my ipod that i still listened to after about a year into the great ipod freeze, and i haven't really gotten over that yet. its the reason that i don't listen to a lot of my Cd's anymore, actually. i was stuck today for something, though, because i left all of my stuff in the house when i was trying to get the baby into the car (purse included, ugh) and this was the only CD in the car that fit the self-imposed qualifications for this project.
will i start listening again? probably not anytime soon. while the songs fit well in the life that i was living when i was listening to this album, things have changed and the CD just doesn't feel right anymore. i cant relate like i used to be able to. will i get rid of the album totally? no. ill keep it around and pull it out once in a while, when the time feels right, but it definitely wont be finding its way back into regular rotation.
Saturday, March 5, 2011
365 project:"come on. let go of those affectations. you dont fool anyone"
64.
artist:midtown
album:save the world, lose the girl
"God i wish i could hate you for the rest of my..."
talk about an album that i love, jeez, i love this one so much i sing along to the guitar parts when there are no lyrics. i didn't like midtown a whole lot when i first heard them. i didn't dislike them but they didn't do anything to my ears to make them stand out from every other pop-punk outfit that was getting played on my college radio station at the time.
then i went to see Dashboard Confessional. i bet you are wondering what a tiny, whiny man with a guitar has to do with a crazy bunch of rock & rollers, so ill tell you. Brandon and i went to see DC when it was still just Chris Carabba and his guitar. he played a now-defunct club in north jersey and we went thanks to tickets from the radio station, i am pretty sure. at any rate, i got really sick during this show (i don't know why i remember this, and it has nothing to do with anything in the whole damn world, but i was wearing an orange sweater. what a strange thing to remember.) and wanted more than anything to go back to my dorm room and sleep it off, but i didn't want to have to make B leave, either, so i didn't really force the issue.
a fellow radio station staffer was there as well, and was hanging out near us for some reason or another. Dave said that he wanted to leave, though, because he was bored or had somewhere else to be, and i ended up leaving with him. we went to the car and all i wanted to do was sleep on the car ride home, but when Dave started his car, "just rock and roll" came loudly out of the speakers. now, this wasn't the first time i had heard midtown, but for some reason that night i developed a new-found appreciation for them.
there is a hidden track at the end of this album. most hidden tracks annoy me, honestly, because they are just nonsense or garbage, but for some reason today i left the CD alone and let it play out...i think i was enjoying the silence. at any rate, the hidden track started playing and i immediately heard "the concerts east concert update" playing in my head. i had completely forgotten about that spot, as well as concerts east, to be perfectly frank, so this was a silly little memory that popped back up.
you know, i say all the time that id LOVE to see midtown get back together, but i don't think i loved either of the later albums as much as i loved this one.
artist:midtown
album:save the world, lose the girl
"God i wish i could hate you for the rest of my..."
talk about an album that i love, jeez, i love this one so much i sing along to the guitar parts when there are no lyrics. i didn't like midtown a whole lot when i first heard them. i didn't dislike them but they didn't do anything to my ears to make them stand out from every other pop-punk outfit that was getting played on my college radio station at the time.
then i went to see Dashboard Confessional. i bet you are wondering what a tiny, whiny man with a guitar has to do with a crazy bunch of rock & rollers, so ill tell you. Brandon and i went to see DC when it was still just Chris Carabba and his guitar. he played a now-defunct club in north jersey and we went thanks to tickets from the radio station, i am pretty sure. at any rate, i got really sick during this show (i don't know why i remember this, and it has nothing to do with anything in the whole damn world, but i was wearing an orange sweater. what a strange thing to remember.) and wanted more than anything to go back to my dorm room and sleep it off, but i didn't want to have to make B leave, either, so i didn't really force the issue.
a fellow radio station staffer was there as well, and was hanging out near us for some reason or another. Dave said that he wanted to leave, though, because he was bored or had somewhere else to be, and i ended up leaving with him. we went to the car and all i wanted to do was sleep on the car ride home, but when Dave started his car, "just rock and roll" came loudly out of the speakers. now, this wasn't the first time i had heard midtown, but for some reason that night i developed a new-found appreciation for them.
there is a hidden track at the end of this album. most hidden tracks annoy me, honestly, because they are just nonsense or garbage, but for some reason today i left the CD alone and let it play out...i think i was enjoying the silence. at any rate, the hidden track started playing and i immediately heard "the concerts east concert update" playing in my head. i had completely forgotten about that spot, as well as concerts east, to be perfectly frank, so this was a silly little memory that popped back up.
you know, i say all the time that id LOVE to see midtown get back together, but i don't think i loved either of the later albums as much as i loved this one.
365 project:"1,2,3,4, get your woman on the floor"
63.
album:hip hop party playlist
artist:various
i wasn't sure if i was going to do various artist albums or not, but i decided today that I'm cutting out a large portion of my record collection if i don't do these, so here goes.
you know that scene in the beginning of office space? the one where Michael Bolton is in his car listening to the gangster rap and he keeps having to turn the radio down every time he passes a black man because hes embarrassed? i felt a little bit like that today while driving around listening to this CD.
picture this: me, in my orange Pontiac. hair back in a headband and dyed black. black alkaline trio hoodie on and zipped up. car jar hanging from the rear view mirror. i have one hand on the steering wheel and the other is holding a water bottle.
i come up to a stop light and have my volume turned WAY up. O.P.P. by naughty by nature is pumping out through my car's stereo. a black man sitting on the stoop at the house on the corner just looks at me funny. and kept looking. and kept looking. he watched me the entire time i sat there as i sang along and was dancing in the car. i just smiled at him as i drove away.
I'm always amazed at how different my town seems to be. i mean, i feel like everyone thinks that their town is special for one reason or another, but when i say that race was never an issue growing up, i mean it was never an issue. i don't remember when i first learned that people out there actually took issue with the color of a person's skin, but it surely wasn't due to a situation in my life. I'm sure it was from TV or something. everyone in my school was just a person. we barely broke off into the stereotypes of geeks and jocks, much less black vs. white. i guess that's what happens when you live in such a small town, but that's how it was.
this CD brings me right back to middle school, when all of these songs were on the radio and we would listen to them in the car of whichever of our parents we begged to drive us to the mall or movies that night. i had honestly lately been so lost in the world of "indie" culture that id totally forgotten about these songs, but a commercial prompted the renewed love affair with young m.c.'s catchy little hit "bust a move" and even more recently, bel biv devoe appeared on jimmy fallon's show and busted out a little "poison" action, which i could NOT get out of my head for days.
other fantastic throwbacks to my childhood on this album include "summertime" by DJ jazzy Jeff and the fresh prince, "Tennessee" by arrested development, "regulate" by warren g and Nate dogg, and "wild thing" by tone loc. there are 17 tracks of ridiculous good times here and the only thing i could think about while listening to this CD (besides how silly i looked dancing to it) was how badly i wanted to throw a party so that we could all listen and reminisce about days gone by together.
album:hip hop party playlist
artist:various
i wasn't sure if i was going to do various artist albums or not, but i decided today that I'm cutting out a large portion of my record collection if i don't do these, so here goes.
you know that scene in the beginning of office space? the one where Michael Bolton is in his car listening to the gangster rap and he keeps having to turn the radio down every time he passes a black man because hes embarrassed? i felt a little bit like that today while driving around listening to this CD.
picture this: me, in my orange Pontiac. hair back in a headband and dyed black. black alkaline trio hoodie on and zipped up. car jar hanging from the rear view mirror. i have one hand on the steering wheel and the other is holding a water bottle.
i come up to a stop light and have my volume turned WAY up. O.P.P. by naughty by nature is pumping out through my car's stereo. a black man sitting on the stoop at the house on the corner just looks at me funny. and kept looking. and kept looking. he watched me the entire time i sat there as i sang along and was dancing in the car. i just smiled at him as i drove away.
I'm always amazed at how different my town seems to be. i mean, i feel like everyone thinks that their town is special for one reason or another, but when i say that race was never an issue growing up, i mean it was never an issue. i don't remember when i first learned that people out there actually took issue with the color of a person's skin, but it surely wasn't due to a situation in my life. I'm sure it was from TV or something. everyone in my school was just a person. we barely broke off into the stereotypes of geeks and jocks, much less black vs. white. i guess that's what happens when you live in such a small town, but that's how it was.
this CD brings me right back to middle school, when all of these songs were on the radio and we would listen to them in the car of whichever of our parents we begged to drive us to the mall or movies that night. i had honestly lately been so lost in the world of "indie" culture that id totally forgotten about these songs, but a commercial prompted the renewed love affair with young m.c.'s catchy little hit "bust a move" and even more recently, bel biv devoe appeared on jimmy fallon's show and busted out a little "poison" action, which i could NOT get out of my head for days.
other fantastic throwbacks to my childhood on this album include "summertime" by DJ jazzy Jeff and the fresh prince, "Tennessee" by arrested development, "regulate" by warren g and Nate dogg, and "wild thing" by tone loc. there are 17 tracks of ridiculous good times here and the only thing i could think about while listening to this CD (besides how silly i looked dancing to it) was how badly i wanted to throw a party so that we could all listen and reminisce about days gone by together.
Friday, March 4, 2011
365 project:"and it feels like im at an all time low, slightly bruised and broken from this head on collision"
62.
artist:new found glory
album:sticks and stones
by the time i got home from work today i was in a really bad mood. I'm talking "genesis and the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day" kind of day. its actually been a really unpleasant week for me, and today was just kind of a culmination of all of that business. i came home from work this afternoon with a migraine and all i wanted to do was have a meltdown.
i took some Excedrin migraine and decided that a black & white milkshake with rainbow jimmies from the local ice cream stand would be the only cure. while the ice cream DID help, it wasn't enough. mom asked me to run out and get her some soda so i decided id take a trip a little further than necessary and listen to some pop-punk on my way. the sky was blue and it was sunny enough that i could trick myself into believing it was warm outside.
i got into the car, found my sticks & stones album and put the car into drive. by the time i had gotten through the album, i was smiling. i was surprised by this, actually, because even listening to the album, i was still in a near-meltdown condition. have you ever heard the song "sonny?" if you have ever lost anyone close to you and if you have a heart in your chest, this song will move you, even if its just a little bit. i vaguely remember at some point during my senior year of college one of the guys that worked in the student center cafeteria passed away. the boys in our group had a friendship with this guy and played this song at the memorial service that the school had. i didn't know the guy very well, but it was still touching.
but like i said, by the end of the CD, i had my Starbucks in hand, got some new and needed things at target, and knew that in just a few hours id be able to hang out with my family and that this stupid, stupid week can be put behind me.
its amazing what a little pop-punk will do for one's soul.
artist:new found glory
album:sticks and stones
by the time i got home from work today i was in a really bad mood. I'm talking "genesis and the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day" kind of day. its actually been a really unpleasant week for me, and today was just kind of a culmination of all of that business. i came home from work this afternoon with a migraine and all i wanted to do was have a meltdown.
i took some Excedrin migraine and decided that a black & white milkshake with rainbow jimmies from the local ice cream stand would be the only cure. while the ice cream DID help, it wasn't enough. mom asked me to run out and get her some soda so i decided id take a trip a little further than necessary and listen to some pop-punk on my way. the sky was blue and it was sunny enough that i could trick myself into believing it was warm outside.
i got into the car, found my sticks & stones album and put the car into drive. by the time i had gotten through the album, i was smiling. i was surprised by this, actually, because even listening to the album, i was still in a near-meltdown condition. have you ever heard the song "sonny?" if you have ever lost anyone close to you and if you have a heart in your chest, this song will move you, even if its just a little bit. i vaguely remember at some point during my senior year of college one of the guys that worked in the student center cafeteria passed away. the boys in our group had a friendship with this guy and played this song at the memorial service that the school had. i didn't know the guy very well, but it was still touching.
but like i said, by the end of the CD, i had my Starbucks in hand, got some new and needed things at target, and knew that in just a few hours id be able to hang out with my family and that this stupid, stupid week can be put behind me.
its amazing what a little pop-punk will do for one's soul.
Thursday, March 3, 2011
365 project:"i threw everything out that didnt make sense to find a thousand more things that dont make sense"
61.
artist:Copeland
album:eat, sleep, repeat
as i listen to these albums every day, i start writing that night's blog entry in my head, so that I'm not sitting here dumbfounded when its time to actually write. i was trying to think of what i could write about for this album and i came up totally blank.
i love Copeland. they are the band that i want to see back together more than any other band (yes, including midtown. i know, these are some big words I'm speaking right now.) i am so glad that i got to see them so many times, and that we received so much music from them in their time together, but i still feel like i have more that i need to learn from them.
i vaguely remember reading something when this album was about to come out or right after it did, about the title. Aaron Marsh was giving an interview, and said that this album was written in a really dark period of his life, and that was the routine he was following daily. eat, sleep, repeat. nothing else. no fun. no life. no love. just the bare minimum to stay alive.
just doing the bare minimum to stay alive is how i feel a lot of the time. i put on a brave face and go out and do what i have to do, but the second I'm left to my own devices, i crumble. its sad, really. i mean, for a while there i was doing really well, i had quit the horrible job that constantly made me want to drive my car into a tree or off of a bridge. i have a job now that i love. its one of the few things around that makes me smile.
very recently, like within the past few days, I've had this sinking feeling in my gut like I'm about to get dumped. my heart hurts like its just been crushed. the major problem with this is that I'm not seeing anyone, and haven't recently been dumped, so i don't know where this is coming from. its put me in a weird mindset again and i haven't really been able to do much to break that. its been a really long time since I've felt this way. i don't like it but since i don't know where its coming from, its really hard to do anything about it. just suck it up and move on as best i can, i guess.
I've actually been wanting to listen to this album for about a month, but couldn't find the CD. i have the case, but the actual disk is missing. i kept trying to wait it out until i came across it, but today a friend of mine posted "i need you to tell me that you'll be right by my side" and i decided that i couldn't put it off anymore. this is arguably my favorite Copeland album and i was going to have to do what i had to do so that i could listen to it tonight.
sometimes i just want to write down a bunch of quotes from the album I'm listening to and just call it a day. this is no exception. there are so many lines on eat, sleep, repeat that just jump out of the speakers at me or that just tug on my heartstrings. in my opinion, this album is a beautiful breakdown, and that's exactly what i needed out of life tonight.
i had errands to run once again and was dreading the idea of hitting the same stores once again and driving the same roads, but i went and did what i had to do with Copeland on the radio and my Starbucks in my hand, and i just spent the time thinking about whats going on in my head these days and what could possibly be making me fall apart. i have come to no conclusions, but I'm a bit more mellow now, at the very least.
artist:Copeland
album:eat, sleep, repeat
as i listen to these albums every day, i start writing that night's blog entry in my head, so that I'm not sitting here dumbfounded when its time to actually write. i was trying to think of what i could write about for this album and i came up totally blank.
i love Copeland. they are the band that i want to see back together more than any other band (yes, including midtown. i know, these are some big words I'm speaking right now.) i am so glad that i got to see them so many times, and that we received so much music from them in their time together, but i still feel like i have more that i need to learn from them.
i vaguely remember reading something when this album was about to come out or right after it did, about the title. Aaron Marsh was giving an interview, and said that this album was written in a really dark period of his life, and that was the routine he was following daily. eat, sleep, repeat. nothing else. no fun. no life. no love. just the bare minimum to stay alive.
just doing the bare minimum to stay alive is how i feel a lot of the time. i put on a brave face and go out and do what i have to do, but the second I'm left to my own devices, i crumble. its sad, really. i mean, for a while there i was doing really well, i had quit the horrible job that constantly made me want to drive my car into a tree or off of a bridge. i have a job now that i love. its one of the few things around that makes me smile.
very recently, like within the past few days, I've had this sinking feeling in my gut like I'm about to get dumped. my heart hurts like its just been crushed. the major problem with this is that I'm not seeing anyone, and haven't recently been dumped, so i don't know where this is coming from. its put me in a weird mindset again and i haven't really been able to do much to break that. its been a really long time since I've felt this way. i don't like it but since i don't know where its coming from, its really hard to do anything about it. just suck it up and move on as best i can, i guess.
I've actually been wanting to listen to this album for about a month, but couldn't find the CD. i have the case, but the actual disk is missing. i kept trying to wait it out until i came across it, but today a friend of mine posted "i need you to tell me that you'll be right by my side" and i decided that i couldn't put it off anymore. this is arguably my favorite Copeland album and i was going to have to do what i had to do so that i could listen to it tonight.
sometimes i just want to write down a bunch of quotes from the album I'm listening to and just call it a day. this is no exception. there are so many lines on eat, sleep, repeat that just jump out of the speakers at me or that just tug on my heartstrings. in my opinion, this album is a beautiful breakdown, and that's exactly what i needed out of life tonight.
i had errands to run once again and was dreading the idea of hitting the same stores once again and driving the same roads, but i went and did what i had to do with Copeland on the radio and my Starbucks in my hand, and i just spent the time thinking about whats going on in my head these days and what could possibly be making me fall apart. i have come to no conclusions, but I'm a bit more mellow now, at the very least.
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
365 project: "and at some point ill call you and tell you i miss you and that you are the point of my day."
60.
artist:Kevin Devine
album:make the clocks move
oh, my, Kevin devine. my love for this man and his music is a very strong love. i shout it from the rooftops. i sing his praises whenever I'm given the opportunity. i have been instrumental in getting at least a few of my friends into listening to his stuff.
if you ever get the chance to see him, take it. i mean it. I've seen him a bunch of times, and every time its been like a big ole' family reunion.
if you haven't started listening to Kevin Devine yet, i have two things to say to you. 1) why the heck not? I've only been pushing him on you for years, and 2) start with this album.
unfortunately i didn't start with this album. i don't know why, actually. well, wait, yes i do. that's a story for another entry, though. make the clocks move got reissued last year, and that is when i finally got around to purchasing it, and even then it was just because Jesse Lacey wrote a forward in it and i wanted to read what Jesse had to say about his best friend.
i knew all of the songs before I'd heard the album because of all of the times I've seen Kevin perform, and from all of the live shows that have been bootlegged and are floating around in my CD collection. i had my favorites, for sure, before i listened. "the longer that I'm out here," "tapdance," "I'm not over you yet," and of course "ballgame" are some of my most listened to and most quoted songs. there is something about the lyrics here that i find so relatable, even if he was in a totally different place while writing them than i am now while listening.
he sings a lot about his friends not calling or caring, and i get that. he sings about being lost and alone, and i get that. he sings about missing someone and loving someone so much he doesn't know how to deal with it, and i get that, too. I'm starting to think that i already wrote about this album, because i feel like I've said all of this before.
guess what? i just looked, and i have indeed written about it before, just not for this project specifically, though I'm thinking it was the album that made me decide to do this project to begin with.
maybe I'm wasting my words saying the same things over and over again, or maybe this time someone will listen and check Kevin out for the first time. who knows what will happen. all i know is that i could leave this album on repeat in my car for days and not get bored.
artist:Kevin Devine
album:make the clocks move
oh, my, Kevin devine. my love for this man and his music is a very strong love. i shout it from the rooftops. i sing his praises whenever I'm given the opportunity. i have been instrumental in getting at least a few of my friends into listening to his stuff.
if you ever get the chance to see him, take it. i mean it. I've seen him a bunch of times, and every time its been like a big ole' family reunion.
if you haven't started listening to Kevin Devine yet, i have two things to say to you. 1) why the heck not? I've only been pushing him on you for years, and 2) start with this album.
unfortunately i didn't start with this album. i don't know why, actually. well, wait, yes i do. that's a story for another entry, though. make the clocks move got reissued last year, and that is when i finally got around to purchasing it, and even then it was just because Jesse Lacey wrote a forward in it and i wanted to read what Jesse had to say about his best friend.
i knew all of the songs before I'd heard the album because of all of the times I've seen Kevin perform, and from all of the live shows that have been bootlegged and are floating around in my CD collection. i had my favorites, for sure, before i listened. "the longer that I'm out here," "tapdance," "I'm not over you yet," and of course "ballgame" are some of my most listened to and most quoted songs. there is something about the lyrics here that i find so relatable, even if he was in a totally different place while writing them than i am now while listening.
he sings a lot about his friends not calling or caring, and i get that. he sings about being lost and alone, and i get that. he sings about missing someone and loving someone so much he doesn't know how to deal with it, and i get that, too. I'm starting to think that i already wrote about this album, because i feel like I've said all of this before.
guess what? i just looked, and i have indeed written about it before, just not for this project specifically, though I'm thinking it was the album that made me decide to do this project to begin with.
maybe I'm wasting my words saying the same things over and over again, or maybe this time someone will listen and check Kevin out for the first time. who knows what will happen. all i know is that i could leave this album on repeat in my car for days and not get bored.
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
365 project:"we're calling all bedwetters and ambulance chasers, poor picker-pockets bring them in"
59.
artist:the decemberists
album:castaways and cutouts
i keep saying that i don't like the decemberists. i said it so much that i definitely believed it. i have been in a rather crappy mood today, so i figured it was another day for something mellow-ish to listen to as i drove around in my car.
i pulled castaways and cutouts off of my CD shelf and figured why the hell not, right? the purpose of this whole project is to go through a good bit of the stuff on my shelf, so I'm going to have to get to this album eventually.
as i was heading out to get on the highway, i saw my friend in front of her house, so i pulled over to talk to her, and of course i left the car running. when i got back in, to my own surprise, i started the CD over. i tried to justify it to myself, saying "oh, for the integrity of the project i need to actually LISTEN to the album, not just let it play in my car while I'm out of it."
but i was singing along. and i knew the words. and i wasn't doing it "for the integrity of the project."
so now my whole life is a lie!
i am going to have to listen to all of the decemberists albums that i have ignored now and decide if i really don't like them and this was just a glitch in the matrix, or if i do like them.
thanks, 365 project. way to go, me.
artist:the decemberists
album:castaways and cutouts
i keep saying that i don't like the decemberists. i said it so much that i definitely believed it. i have been in a rather crappy mood today, so i figured it was another day for something mellow-ish to listen to as i drove around in my car.
i pulled castaways and cutouts off of my CD shelf and figured why the hell not, right? the purpose of this whole project is to go through a good bit of the stuff on my shelf, so I'm going to have to get to this album eventually.
as i was heading out to get on the highway, i saw my friend in front of her house, so i pulled over to talk to her, and of course i left the car running. when i got back in, to my own surprise, i started the CD over. i tried to justify it to myself, saying "oh, for the integrity of the project i need to actually LISTEN to the album, not just let it play in my car while I'm out of it."
but i was singing along. and i knew the words. and i wasn't doing it "for the integrity of the project."
so now my whole life is a lie!
i am going to have to listen to all of the decemberists albums that i have ignored now and decide if i really don't like them and this was just a glitch in the matrix, or if i do like them.
thanks, 365 project. way to go, me.
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